






% a? 





* 



X 0^. IQ9Q1 [Doc. No. l>> 

Jan. Sett. ISzS.J i 

REPORT 



or THI 



JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE 



,ruatc inn Tljnuftf of lirpvrotutattDre. 



or Tiit 



STATE OF MAINE. 

IX HULA-TIC* 1*0 THI 

SORTII-EASTEKN BOISDAUY 
OF THE BTATE 

r of the Legislature 



PORT1 v»i>. 
...dp, r»utT«l to i. 

1888 



STATE OF MAINE. 



In Senate, Jan. 4, 1828. 

Ordered: That so much of the Communication made by 
the Governor to the Legislature, with the accompanying 

documents as relates to the North-Eastern Boundary of this 
Mate, be referred to ' 

Messrs. Megquier, 

Williams, and 
Hathaway, 

With such of the House a* may join, and that the Commit- 
tee be authorized to cause such of the accompanying docu- 
ments to be published, as in their opinion the public good 
requires. l e" uu 

Read and passed. 

Sent down for concurrence. 

ROBERT P. DUNLAP, President. 



. 



House of Representatives, Jan. 5, 1828. 

Read and concurred, and 

Messrs. Deane, of Ellsworth, 
Fuller, of Augusta, 
Va\ce of Baring, 
Carpenter, of Howland, 
Burnham, of Unity, 
Were joined. 

JOHN RUGGI ,1 9 Speaker, 



SEP CI 1906 
D. ofD. 



I 



-* 

<• 



REPORT. 



The aforesaid Join) Select Committee of i lit* S«*n:itr ,-iinl 
fl"u e of Repre>ent ati rea of the State of Maine, have consid- 
ered the whole subject submitted to them by t lie aforesaid 
Order, to wit : \ll the Governor '« Message which relate* to 
the North-Eastern Boundary, which is as follows, to wit: — 
• In the number of our resources is oueso conspicuous, that 
ii must earlj attract your notice. It is that ot a wild and 
fertile territory, embracing ab ml -i\ millions of acres. It is 
not necessary now to attempt to show how evidently it i- 
subject tn \uiir jurisdiction, nor to speak of it- distinguished 
natural advantages which imparl to it the capacity of sustain- 
ing some hundred thousand yeomen. Valuable, or rather 
invaluable, as it i-. we ought v«.itli tut hesitation to surrender 
it if we cannot with justice support that claim to it which 
unfortunately now stands opposed under the difficulty of an 
ingenuity which has endeavored to obscure the line, and an 
opposition, which, I trout, you will dispassionately authorize 
to lie resiste I under the limitations of a cautious and prudent, 
yet decided poli< y. 

• The Government of the State, with the exemplary mode- 
ration always creditable and necessary, has for yean re 
frained from the exercise of many of it- rights. It has been 
induced to 'I" so, as may be inferred, from its anxious desire t<> 
accommodate to the wishes of the fie > I idministration, and 
it- disposition to avoid collisions, inevitably unfortunate, in 
any result. At the same time, it cannot ab tndon its obliga 
tions, it- title deeds, and it- rights. It eann >t allow the iiti- 
/i ns to be incarcerated in foreign gaols. The State would 
shrink most drc idfully under the shame of such a nib mission. 
I the sake of being fully informed, it has for several years 
solicited tin- doc u me it- p osse wed by the general government 
En relation to this subject. It is with great confidence that 
I urge it- consideration now. inasmuch as all that has been 
requested l> i • been supplie I agree ibly to what was tin lersto '.I 
to be the wish of the last Legislature. That invaluable mass 
of documents, now in the Si retary's Office, and the copies 

ofe nnoicatiom i myself andothc in nearly 

all that I i in offer The delicate nature of the subject in I i- 
ce* DM to Bah a particular examination in n to publi- 



cation, if that shall be proposed, yet, there is no wish on my 
part tliat what lias been written by myself shall be disposed 
of in one way in preference to the other. On the most 
thoughtful revisal, I find no past deviations from my existing 
sentiments, and am bound to sustain the most rigorous respon- 
sibility. 

" Ainid>t the views urged, has been a primary one of that 
nature, requiring it~ being submitted to you for correction, if 
desired It is in relation to the undefined and perhaps uu de- 
finable line of rights between States' and United Stales' 
authority, along which construction is constantly urging dis- 
puted claims, and, in general, lias much the advantage in 
irruptions upon the States. The Executive of the Union has 
been considered as disposed to submit tiie question of the 
boundary of Maine, with a perfectly friendly inte.it, hut 
without regarding her as a part) , to the umpirage of a foreign 
authority. The submission itself admits the possibility of an 
unjust and disastrous decision. While it is not presumed to 
cast a shadow of suspicion on the integrity with whieh tiiat 
authority may be exercised, nor upon the motive- of any 
person Whomsoever, it has, nevertheless, been deemed a suita- 
ble precaution to urge the following propositions. It cannot 
be arrogance which as.-erts them as materials of a monument 
of the rights of our employers, which will become firm by 
time, when properly combined and cemented by your reflec- 
tions. If any feeling has been displayed fin my part, it has 
been indulged with a view of eliciting results which it was 
believed would be salutary and acceptable. At the same time 
there has been no intension to abandon tho--e prudential con- 
siderations entirely consistent with a free assertion of what 
it might be supposed the people, through their Representa- 
tives would eventual!) approve arid sustain. 

" At the period of forming the treaty of 1783, Massachu- 
setts and the other Colonies were independent of each other, as 
to territorial rights. The United States, as such, did not 
exist 

" Although the colonies constituted common agents to form 
that treaty, the territorial rights secured did not, by virtue 
of that instrument, accrue to the nation, but were merely 
acknowledged and confirmed by it to the existing individual 
corporations, according to pre-existing grants, crown lands 
only be'ma excepted. 

" When the Union of the States was framed, in that happy 
arrangement we are still permitted to witness, and which crea- 
ted a general guardian-hip, without extinguishing a particular 
independence, the compact left Massachusetts the Proprietor. 



,,rtv in severalty of Ml b«r anil. She held it foHj 

5TJE2ilS. t,.ndh ied J-rf-toj 

i ., .1 m.lvbv tiMt ma naniuaoui act, nsuallj i ilM 
rt^ion^iS^ ^validity* the, our , 

*!%£$** having no right U> cede the <--"- tl.o 

ei*e a function beyond the grasp 01 - i 



ours. 



.. i. L„ therefore been believed to be due thia State ft) 
• •li has, mereiore, ..hmisskm of t- boundary, 

^„ce ^ ^S^tSianot, idJd 

■;/;;;,; ::;;■.,,, >,„•.,,,, 

, ,. I UrnM-mSm i, .mart e«ent 1 

' s V::S 

i Tl-,S 7 , c « n ',' J Hum are nol -ronger to 

, , ! betl ban ■ of the T"*"-^ 

„„,,;,:: Lary to .dopl some rule ofj prc^re 

"',, he dotiea to be diacharged before iU result, shall 

,.U, , ,:„! cannot but hope to learn from yon, in « 

t v \ t measures you will consider to be proper, .1 och 

. , i...,t..,iw no a.-ent to iojusti 

S„ u> vow comeanplated consult 

Land It w,- .... amM which the l< rt.monyse. -..- tome .'■• 

conuLn ; jet it cannot but be !...,-> H- *• -* 1 g 



£eTTd tIni" w ? aCe H f ht It 6 ha ^ 3CtS 0f unthinking 

Wnilp iv» ,.« . "* e,1 .5 a r e ""a nun in contentions 

connect I a <?q«"*cing in the abeyance of our rights as 

connected only Wltn nrniwrfs H,„ 11 *• ■ "o uls i d * 

mmmmM 

rehti, . i m W .° u]d Cause '"formation of the facts 

redHe ac&lS °?^ er ,' t0 be reU,r " ed - While in h 

casinn it .„. y tn * government, so far as, on the oc- 

casion, it was represented, he declined to make tie exi.la^ 

why* all have appeared to consider desirable. Fro7 1. 

«..d..,co„r, ; ,,, ;,, if ,„..,,„, „™;t:u :i; ;,k sr 

, U1 lej Ule lacts, that the government of New R,.„., • ? 

-rt« i • I SP«OM recommendations of mutual forbear 

in^iS Ch ' e 6en rU " S S ° ,0Udthat We did »°t -Uce "I; 

ob.'ah Un^se^r^-er 6 T™ ° f ^ D °™ ™ t0 

he nature of the facts as far as developed required Pearly at 
ent.on, and the course pursued was accordingly aSooS^o" 

..cess in the eJrtt'of'Ke ^wouH S£ X d^ 



-irahle not to allow it to pan without the expression of your 
• dissent, which would be received, on my part , with the utmost 
reaped and defei euce. 
•• The Mini tci Plenipotentiary of his Britannic Majesty lias 
- communicated t" Mr. t lay, what arc called by the former 
'sufficient proofs of the decided resolution of hi* Majesty's 
Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick to maintain the dia- 
' puted territory in the same state in which bis Excellency re- 
ceired it after the conclusion of the treaty of Ghent. It 
certainly would not be desirable t«> put bis Majesty's Lieuten- 
» ant Governor's decided resolution to the teal on 1 1 • i — point, hut 
it may be imperatively required t" determine how far t lie 
treaty ofGhent and previous actual jurisdiction may sanction 
i his authoritative approaches beyond the terms of that treaty, 
without .i reasonable expostulation not however to be follow- 
ed by any unnei e sarj resort to forcible resistance. 

" It i* not t" be anticipated that the deplorable event of a 
«ar with Great Britain may not occur again. If that melan- 
choly result of human frailty shall lie produced, the situation 
of Maine will require great resolution and activity. The 
concentration of tin- British forces with the view of dividing 
the Union, hy an occupation <<( -New York, will not be at- 
tempted again, but the seaboard and the interior frontier Of 
Maine will be the one a line of maratime invasion, and the 
other of excursions and incursions according to the emergen- 
cies relating to our defence. Toe effort will be probably to 
cut off this St. iic. or .it [east for tin* we imghl to be prepared, 
■o as nut to admit any repetition here of such scenes as occur- 
red during the last war. It would appear to he proper 
to solicit of the general goveroaaent the erection of some 
strong fortresses oa mir interior frontier. It- own dispo- 
sition and the obvious utility of work* so situated, in an- 
ticipation of others where the country i* better a "ded, 

would, it maybe hoped, assure to a representation of thi* 
nature, a favorable reception." 

The I ■ mmittee aforesaid a*k leave t<i observe, they are un- 
able to jierrei\e. that there i* any thing uncertain in our 
claim, arising out <d* any obscurity in the treaty of l~ s i. oi 
any of the documentary evidence, or arguments and discus- 
lions whieb led to the description of the boundary therein 
tined; nor arc they informed that the government ol 
Gr» it Britain, or any of theii er claimed the 

northern part of this State as a right, hut requested it 
cession ; it i- therefore concluded, th it their >trni^< and per- 
il ering endeavor - to excite doubts, and embarrass 'In- subject. 
• elicited by the zeal of Uieii c-»ayi*'-. <nd their -ub.>rdin.i!< 






8 

agents, or negotiators, who, w hile they recommend themselves 
to the m< ither government, as zealous-, lo\al subjects, and 
faithful agents, are disposed at the same time to gratify other 
feelings, arising from other causes. 

This subject has on several occasions occupied the attention 
of the government of this State, and has been the subject of 
reports, and resolves, and all may have been done which the 
state of knowledge on that subject rendered proper, or the 
occasion required. The subject is now, from a variety of 
considerations, assuming a more interesting character Such 
is the state of public inquiry, that it may be expected of this 
Legislature, that they will fairly and candidly spread the evi- 
dence of title, and the subject of controversy, before the peo- 
ple, to the end that they may see, examine, and reason for 
themselves, and form theirown conclusions. This, however, 
■would be deemed unnecessary, were it not the fact, that what 
is said, and much of the documentary evidence touching the 
boundaries of the provinces, prior to the treaty of 1783, is in 
the hands, and within the reach of very few. 

With a view therefore of spreading the evidence of our 
title fairly before the people of this State, and by the same 
means, before the people of the United States and the world ; 
it is proposed, to pursue generally the chronological order of 
events, noticing particularly, such as have any direct relation 
to the subject, and incidentally, such as tend chiefly to show 
the connexion between them. 

The discovery of America produced an excitement, and a 
spirit of maratime enterprize among the nations of Europe. — 
Cabot sailed in 1497 under the orders of Henry VII. of Eng- 
land, and discovered Newfoundland, and North America, and 
coasted from Labrador to Florida. The spirit of discovery 
thus early excited in England, subsided, and was not revived 
for many years. The French prosecuted voyages of discovery 
to North America, and as early as 1635 attempted a settle- 
ment on the St. Lawrence. From this period the voyages of 
the Europeans to the Northern parts of North America, were 
principally confined to the fisheries, and to the prosecution of 
a trade in furs, with the Natives, and it was not until 1604, 
that any settlement was commenced which became perma- 
nent. 

In 1603, Henrv fourth of France, granted to De Monts, all 
the Country in North America between the fortieth and forty 
sixth degrees of North Latitude, by the name of Acadie. De 
Monts, to secure to himself the benefits of his Grant, with 
Champlain and other adventurers, fitted out vessels and sailed 
for America ; they first touched on the eastern coast of the 



«rai>t — then sailed round < ipe S ble lo Ihe bay "t Fundvi 
touched 'i Po :. i 1 hum Vnnapolis, at (lie Si John, w 
river thej sailed up tome distance, and thence folli 
t to the mouth of a river, which they afterward i 

v i !"i\ where upon a small island thej erected h ■ 

defences, and e I tblished 1 1 1 « - a elves I le winter. In t lie 

spring they, for anine cause determined on q 

and look whai they could ol i ■■: the buildi 

mid ved, and established them elves il Port Royal ■> 

they lived and prosecuted the business of tl" i uent for 

several \ i 

In 160" the British commenced a settlement in Virginia, 
which became permanent tsearlj as 1613, forth) 
of etting rid of their neighbors, «ln> might at some fi 
l'i i i in i oj th< m, ai well as for asserting their claim i" the 
"\\ 1 1 . le country, and appropriating it i" themselves or he l!ri- 
ti-!i government, they fitted out a small expe lition un ler Sii 
Samuel \- . ill to dislodge the French in kcadie. Sii 9 a i 1 
dislodged the French at Mounl Desert, destroyed ill which De 
M ■ ts had hit on the Island where he first wintered, and cap- 
French r»t Port Royal. S ime of Ihe Pre ich we it 
i id some nnhed with the natives The expedition 

\ Bttended «itl important result, further, than it 

prohal K -ii i ted to Sir William Alexander, the idea of "b 

il ■>!' tin- Country — and therefore after companies 

I land, obi ined rrantsof various parts <il North 

\ i ica, to which they gave th< i imes, such as Vir- 

N< ■ I. ' I, he i 'jincj a grant, which, from it* 

ituation to New England, or i" perpetuate the name 

of his native country, he called N 

The grant w*a made in 1621 bj James 1 anil contai 
'•all the lainl- <>r the continent fr.nn < ipe Sable, thence 
along the coast of Si Mary's Bay, thence across the bay of 
Fundy to the ri\. Si ' roix, t'> it< ■ spring head, 

. an imaginary line northward tothe river Si Law- 
e, thence by the shores "I the river to the I. 
shore commonly called <;.i-|>r\ and th< uthward, &c. 

s'n William seems tuhn\i ■ .1 with some zeal, and in- 
ed great < in Attiug out two vessels to take pos- 
n of and settle hi* grant ; but all his efforts produced 

little nr lici. and he abandoned it, ami in 1 680, sold a 

I ..r ..II of his _• i hi '■> La T ir. ( subject of France In 
the vear 1 628 or 9 I kcadie were both captured 

i.\ the British, and were restored in 1632 by the treats of Si 



• B I 

■ 



10 

Germains. In 1652, the British fitted out an expedition and 
took possession of Penobscot, St. John, Port Royal, and 
several other places. In 1655 a treaty of commerce -was 
entered into between the French and British, and the question 
of title to Acadie was referred to commissioners. 

*In 1663, Charles II. granted to his brother the Duke of 
York, the country called the Duke of York's territory, next 
adjoining New Scotland, and extending from the river St. 
Croix to Peinaqnid, and up the river thereof to the furthest 
head of the same as it tendeth northward ; and extending 
thence to the river Kimbequin, and upwards by the shortest 
course to the river of Canada northward. 

In 1667, by the treaty of Breda, Acadie was again restored 
to France. In 1689, another war broke out, and the follow- 
ing year Sir William Phipps conquered Port Royal, and 
other French ports in Acadie. 

fOct. 7, 1691, by the charter of William and Mary, the 
real Province of Massachusetts Bay was erected, consisting 
of the former provinces of Massachusetts Bay, New Plymouth, 
Nova Scotia, District of Maine, and all the territory between 
Nova Scotia and the District of Maine and the river Sagada- 
hock, and every part thereof, and the St. Lawrence or great 
river of Canada. It will at once be perceived, that the pro- 
vince of Massachusetts Bay was in the northern part, bounded 
•west by a line drawn north from the westernmost head of the 
waters of the Sagadahock, to the river St. Lawrence, north 
by the river St. Lawrence, east and south by the Atlantic 
Ocean. The charter contained a limitation in the exercise 
of the granting power, as to all the tract of country lying 
bevond the Sagadahock, but it contained no other limitations 
to its exercise of sovereign power, which were not contained 
in all other charters granting powers of or establishing govern- 
ments. Massachusetts exercised some acts of jurisdiction 
over Nova Scotia, appointed some civil and other officers, 
but it being so distant, and she having so many other posts, and 
such extent of other frontier to defend, and the expense being 
so great, which she must incur for her protection against the 
assaults of the French and natives, that she was not solicitous 
to retain it, and in the course of a few years gave it up, and 
the British Government made it a separate province. 

In 1697, by the treaty of Ryswick, Acadie was again resto- 
red to the French. In 1702, war was again declared between 
France and Great Britain, and Acadie in the course of the war 
was again captured by the British, and was, in 1713, by the 



* Appendix 2. Appendix 3. 



li 

treaty of I Lrecht, ceded by (he French to the British by the 
description "I Nova Scotia, otherwise called Icadie, accord- 
ing to its ancient limits, «ith -nun- reservations "i islands, 
snch .1- ( ape Breton and the islands in the St. Lav< 
which win- not ceded. For manj yean Nova s < itia or 
\ lie thus ceded, seems not to have engaged much of the 
attention of the British Governinent. They ili.l in 1719, 
appoint Richard Phillips governor," who, for want of subjects, 
had i" select ln~ count il from hi* garrison. The French 
inhabitants lived in a state ol independence, without acknow- 
ledging the right "!• authority "I the British colonial govern- 
ment ; and the object of the British seems to have been to 
keep possession ol the country, to the end, that they might 

liolil ii I extinguish the claim <>i France. By the treaty 

of \i\ la ChapeUe in 1745, commissioners wire provided 
to lie appointed, t" settle the boundaries of Nova Scotia or 
Acadie, as ceded by the treaty of Utrecht, about the Li 
"i which, the British and French could not agree. Col. 
Corn wallas was made Governor of Nova Scotia i>r \. 
in 1749, and came with soldiers ol t lio late army and othi 
between three and four thousand, and settled and built the 
town "t 1 1. ili! 

Commissioner* provided t<> be appointed by the treaty of 
\i\ li ( bapelle were appointed uj 1750, and began and 

continued their discussions i"i - e years, the Briush con 

tcnilini; for, and endeavoring to maintain one construction 
uf the treaty "i I trecht, and the, French another construc- 
tion. The discusaions were broken offbythe war of 1756. 
Tlie treaty of Paris, of February I". 1763, which terrain 
the war of I" I both Canada and No S lia to the 

British in full sovereignty. At thi* lime tin 1 power of the 
French became extinct, and they never made any subsequent 
effort i" regain it I'ntil tin* period, although with the 
British, N S itia bad been the subject of grants, "f con- 
quests, .mil cessions, they alwaj - recognised the v ' L tu rence 
northern boundary, never extending their claim beyond, 
or stopping short of it. rVhen Canada became a territorj "t 
(ircnt Britain, it became necessary for her to establish a 
i uiitiit (or it. and the King, fur that purpose, by his 
I i 'i f the *th uf October, 1763, among other go- 
vernments, established the _ 'it of Quebec,] bounded as 
follows •• mi the Labrador coast by the river St John, 
from thence, by a line drawn from the head of thai river, 
through the lake St. John, to the sooth eml ol Lake Ni pi n, 
from whence the said line. cro»>ing the ii\er St. Lawrence, 



! ■ •..■ [ :X t ' 



12 

and the lake Champlain, in 4 % degrees of north latitude, passes 
aUtig the high (-/a* winch divide the rivers that empty, themselves 
int,. the saia n er >t. Lawrence Jrom those which Jail imto the sea, 
and also along the north coast of the bay des Chaleurs, and toe 
coast ot the gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Hosiers, and from 
thence crossing the m< uih ol t lie river St. Lawrence, by the 
wed eidot the island Anticosti, terminates at the aforesaid 
river. Si John." 

From tit is description it is evident, that it was the intention 
of the crown, in establishing the Province of Quebec, to em- 
brace within its territory, after passing Lake Champlain, the 
sources ol all the streams which flowed into the St. Law- 
rer.ce, and for that puipo.-e, the most fit and appropriate 
words aie adopted. It cannot be supposed that it was intended 
by thi> description, that the lii:e, a.- it run eastward from lake 
Champlain, was to pursue a range of mountains, or to run 
from peak to peak of the highest mountains, between the 
river St. Lawrence on the one hand, and the Atlantic Ocean 
on the other. The line was the high lands, What high lands ? 
The high lands which divide the wafers : any land theiefore 
of ai y elevation, whether plains or mountains, hills or dales, 
which aie at the sources of the respective rivers, flowing 
into the St Lawrence and the sea, are the high lands by 
the proclamation intended, and the most apt words are used to 
describe them. This line leaves all the waters of the Con- 
necticut, Androscoggin, Kennebec, Penobscot, St. John and 
Ristigouche, Jailing into the sea on one hand, and the streams 
flowing into the lake Memphremagog. and through it into the 
ri\ei St. Lawienee, the Chaudierre, the Ouelle. Green, 
Metis, and many othei rivers falling into the river St. Law- 
rence 01. the other. The line, it will be ob>erved, pursues 
the northern coast of the bay of Chaleurs, and not the middle 
ol tie bay ; there cannot lie any pretence theiefore, that the 
rivei Ristigouche was within the meaning of this proclama- 
tion, a river flowing into the St. Lawrence, but, on the 
cortrary, it is clearly a river falling into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Prior to this proclamation, the provinces of Massachusetts 
pp\ and Nova Scotia were hounded north by the river St. 
Lawrence : the proclamation varied the boundary by trans- 
ferring it. from the shore- of the river St Lawrence, to the 
sources of the rivers which emptied themselves into it ; and 
the afcre. aid provinces were then bounded north by the same 
line, to wit, the range of land, be what it might, high or low, 
in which the rivers respectively had their sources, leaving 
the rivers St. John and Restigouche partly in the province 



* Appendix 6. 



IS 

of Msasarhusrtti Bay, and partly in the province "of Nova 
Scotia, the ■ mm i- being in the former, .1 d the mouths in the 
latter pi < >>. iui e "I'd 1 - line ha* not ait e been altered 1 cept 
between lake Champlain and Connecticut river, where, in- 
stead of pursuing the iii. ii lands, it was fixed to the pai 
of fort) live degrees north latitude. 

* The line than established bj proclamation, hat often since 
by the acta of the Crown and 1'. liament ■•■ G 1 it Britain, 
been recognised. October, 1763, in tin- commission in Mon- 
l _ 1 W'iloiot, revoking the commission u> a former gover- 
iinr. .mil constituting him to be » aptain General and * om- 
mander in Chief of tin- Province of Nova Scotia, i- the 
following description of I udarj : " Bounded on the west- 
ward by aline drawn it Cape Sable across the enti 

ofthebai of Fundy, to the mouth of Uu 5 ' nix, by the 

Mm/ riper to Ut wares, and by a tine drawn northfrom thence I 

■11 boundary 0/ out Colony 0) Quebec ; to Iht n ' 

I boundary, m/m' n> (as western sxrremify 0/ (fa boj 
( 1 ,V 

i • the commission to William Campbell, in l*G*. tlierc 
is the same dettuipt ion "I" boundaries of the Provinceof N 
Scotia, and the nu- are again repeated in the comini sion to 
Francis Legpe in 1171. The proclamation ol 1763 was 
farther rec 1 ed and confirmed by the act of Parliament 
of the 14th <i Geoi e 111. by which it is enacted, " that ill 
the territories, islands, and countries in North America, 
iging tn the crown of Gi I B itain, bounded on tin* 
south, bj 1 line from the baj ol Chaleurs, along the liialil.mil> 
which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the St. 
I . . 1 .iui those which fall into the sea, to a point in 
forty-fiva of northern latitude, on the eastern bank 

,1 i eoticut river. "\ Tin- limit- of the n > I provinces 
we >■ the »ame at the time "f concluding the tre itj "i 178 

Tee question may well be aske I, n here was the north 

n ii 1: 1 1 ol N S ''ii, and tin- nortAsaat angle oi tin.' province 

: chu* ire the treaty Had x Scotia 

two northwest ingles ; It hao already been shown by the 

to Sir William Alexander, thai the northwesl angle 

of bis gran) was <m the shon St. I ■ ■ ■ 

ahl gh by the charter of William and Mary, in 1691, it 

in- a part of the province of Massachusetts Bay, when 
it was irated from it, it- boundaries wen 

1 . .1 ,| its northwest angle -till on the shores 
of the St. Lawrence Here the an^lr remained fixed and 
stationary until 1763, when the boundaries were transferred 



1.! \ - ■ tppsaaai ° 



14 

from the shore to the land from which the streams falling 
into the river St. Lawrence flowed and had their source. 
Nova Scotia had therefore but one northwest angle. Here 
the line became fixed and permanent, and on this line, and 
to the northward of the heads of all the streams which did 
not flow into the river St. Lawrence, was the northwest 
angle of Nova Scotia.* 

When the boundaries between the provinces of Quebec 
and Massachusetts Bay, were thus clearly defined and limited 
to that range of land, in which the streams falling into the 
St. Lawrence at the northward, and the St. John at the 
southward, and continued easterly to the head of the bay of 
Chaleurs, and southwestwaidly to the head of Connecticut 
river ; arid when the boundary between the provinces of 
Nova Scotia and Massachusetts Bay were thus clearly dertned 
and limited to the river St. Croix, and a line drawn north 
from it to the aforesaid range of land, the boundary of the 
government of Quebec ; the repeated acts of arbitrary power 
exercised by Great Britain towards the provinces comprising 
the thirteen United States, caused them to assert their rights ; 
they maintained them successfully ; and to terminate the 
unprofitable struggle, Great Britain acknowledged their 
existence as an independent nation. When their existence as 
an independent nation was thus secured, it became necessary 
for the two nations, to prevent new and unprofitable contests, 
to fix and establish boundaries between themselves. This was 
first done in the provisional articles of peace concluded at 
Paris, November 30, 1782, and by the provisions of that 
instrument, were incorporated into, and became a part of the 
definitive treaty of Peace concluded at Paris, September 3d, 
1783. 

The acknowledgement of independence, and the boundaries 
established, are described as follows, to wit : — 

" Article 1st. His Britannic Majesty acknowledges the 
said United States, to wit. New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Connecticut, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, to be 
free, sovereign and independent States ; and that he treats 
with them as such ; and for himself, his heirs and successors, 
relinquishes all claims to the government, propriety, and 
territorial rights of the same and every part thereof. And 
that all disputes which might arise in future on the subject 
of the boundaries of the said United Slates may be prevented, 
it is hereby agreed and declared that the following are and 
shall be their boundaries, to wit : 



15 

■ \iiiclf .' /' i ."'ir mrthmtrt angte oj \ s 

ihitl uii^lr which it formed by n tint drawn due north from the 
i to tht highlmu • high- 

hmdl irlmh divide //i«»t lims that empty themtebet into thl St. 
I. f.icr from thorn which fall into the Atlantic Octane . 
MtTthwtttemmoot head of OonmocHcut run, tbence down il 
the ini.lillroftii.il river to the forty-fiAh decree of north liti- 
tade ; Iron tbence by .1 Inn- dtie weal on said latitude until 
ii strikes toe river Iroquois or Cataraguy '• I bonce along 1 i< 
middle "i said rivei into Lake Ontario, through t he middle 
■I mid Like, until it strikes the Communication by water 
between that lake and lake Erie ; thence along the middle 

i • 1 1 eeeamunieation into Like Brie, through t lie middle 
of said lake, until it arrive* at the water communication 

etween that lake and Huron ; thence along the middle of 
mid water communication be ween that take and like Supe- 
rior ; thence through lake Superior, northward of the isles 
I Philipeaux, to the long lake ; them e through tlic 
middle ol said long lake, and 1 1 1 « - communication between H 
and the like of the Woods, to the said take of the W& - 
thence through said lake to the most northwestern point 

thereof; aad from then n a due west course to the rivet 

Mi sissippi ; thence by a line to be drawn along the middle 
of the said riser Mississippi, until it shall intersect the north- 
ern most pari ol" the tlmtv-lir-t decree of north latitude 
South, by .1 line to be drawn due e.t*t from the termination of 
the tine last mentioned, in tbe latitude of thirty-one il<- 
north of tbe equator, to tbe middle of the river Apalachicola 
or 1 atahouche : tbence along the middle thereof to its junc- 
tion with the Flint river ; theme straight to the head ol s ' 
Mary's river ; thence down along the middle of 8l M 
ri\er to the itlantic Ocean. /■.'.'. bu « Hue to be drawn 
tht middle "/ I • Si. I in //,*• bay o* I 

in i'/n md from itt • ,. to tht 

hi^h lands, which diri.lr the . ■ 1 fall into the Atlantic 

II into the titer s /. • comprehending 

all islands within twenty I. . i any part of the shores ol 

tbe I niti ■! Si lying between the lines to be drawn due 

1 the points where tin ■ id boundaries between 
N 3 a the one part, aad Bast Florida on the other,shal] 

respectively touch the bay of Fundy, and the Atlantic 

pting such i I Is as now are, or heretofore have been 

within the liini'» of tbe said |»r. . Nova 8 

The first article describes bv name th< IS 

• omposing the I nited id bad the rn ped hi re 

withoul ig their boundaries more minutely, there 

could have been DO doubt but that all the territory embi 



16 

within the charter limits, or within the jurisdiction of Mas- 
sachusetts Bay, passed by that description. Here from the 
use of tiie term Massachusetts, was an evident intention to 
conform to the lines as they existed before the treaty, which 
have been already shown, from the documents herein before 
cited, which are of that clear and explicit character which 
relieves the subject from all uncertainty and doubt. 

But when the subject is still farther pursued and the boun- 
daries are more minutely described, what was clear before, is 
still made more clear and explicit. To be more particular — 
The northwest amrle of Nova Scotia, after it is ascertained by 
the rule given in the treaty, is the point from which the nor- 
thern line starts. " From the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, 
to wit — that angle which is formed by a line drawn due north 
from the source of the river St. Croix to the high lands." — 
Here we may ask wbat angle was intended ? Was it an angle 
to be formed on the side line of the province, one hundred or 
more miles from the real and true northwest angle of Nova 
Scotia ? or was the real and true angle of the province, at the 
point where its western line intersected the line of the prov- 
ince of Quebec ? The true construction is too obvious to ad- 
mit a doubt. It is perfectly clear from the plain and most nat- 
ural and obvious construction of the language used, that by the 
northwest angle of Nova Scotia was truly intended the north- 
western extremity of that province. 

The description then proceeds " alo;ig the said highlands 
which divide those rivers that empty into the river St. Law- 
rence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean." The 
idea that the words of the treaty require a range of mountains 
to form the line, is totally false and absurd If the commission- 
ers intended to describe a line pursuing the highest range of 
mountains between the Atlantic on the one hand, and the river 
St Lawrence on the other, they would have u*ed the terins 
fittest for such description, and not have used the words which 
plainly and distinctly were intended to embrace any height of 
land, from the lowest to any other elevation, provided it did 
divide the waters falling into the river St. Lawrence, from 
those falling into the Atlantic Ocean. If mountains were 
found there, they were intended, if there were no mountains 
or hills, and the lands only ascended gently from the river St. 
Lawrence, and again descended towards the main streams fall- 
ing into the Atlantic, constituting in fact a long and extended 
plain, from the highest parts of which the streams run north- 
wardly and westwardly into the river St. Lawrence, and 
southerly and easterly into the Atlantic — such a plain is the 
highland truly intended by the treaty, and the line is on that 
part of the plain from which the waters flow in different di- 



17 

rections It the lands are onlj liigh enough for the water aim- 
pi} I | -'ill in different directions, a* completely and ex- 

active spondt with the description in the treaty, and are 

the highla ds trulj ind eininenti) intended by it. 

The treat) describe* but two classes "t" rivers, as bav- 
iy connexion with this part of the boundaries of the 1 ni- 
led States, to wit — uch as flow into the river St Lawrence 
and those which fall into the Atlantic. Although the river 
St. Lawrence itself falls into the Atlantic Ocean, it i^ alluded 
t" i,i .t peculiar manner, to distinguish it from all other river*, 
and to place it and its tributary streams in opposition t>> (Asm, 

whether the) flowed i : < i » » I g Island Sound, Kennebec I >.iy , 

P< bscol iy, the great Massachusetts bay, the Bay of Fun- 
dy, or the Ba) of Chaleur— or into an) other part of the At- 
lantic Ocean. 'V\w langt i of the treaty being thus clear 
and explicit, it le ives no d mbl on the mind, that the highlands 
of the treaty which divide the waters, was intended t li;it 
i Lands, whether high or low, in which the tributaries 

of the s ' Lawrence have their sources and from which they 
tl"U To search, therefore, for mountain ranges, or for tlic 
i • height i if land, between the river St. Lawrence and 
the Atlantic Ocean, to fulfil the terms of the treaty, i* absurd 
and | • rous. In the latter pari of the article quoted, in 

describing tjie east boundary, the des» riptive language of the 
fir>t | art • i the article is near! . repeate I " Bast by a line 
i mg the mid Il«' of the river St. Croix, from its 
in ntli in the Bay of Fundy to its source, and from its source 
directly north to the aforesaid highlands which divide the riv- 
ers which fall into the Atlantic Ocean from those which fall 
into the rivei St. Lawn 

Although, from the French having erected their crosses at 
tlir mouths of various rivers, and having at various times . iv- 
< ii them name- from that circumsl ! the part of the 

country between the rivers St. John and Penobscot not having 
ind sel I mi visile for the purpose of 

traffic with the i Btive .doubts reasi nal Ij might Brite as to tlie 
true riv< S I i till, when those doubts were removedi 
and the river clearly ascertained, a certain point was fixed, 
1 1 "hi which the due North line w I ami nothing re- 

in lined but to employ artists to survey the line and ere< 
monuments. I a • ms to h ,-.. been i point conceded in the 
treaty of amity, commerce and navigation, concluded at Loo- 
don, No' IS nd in all the discussions under the fifth 

1 ■ deer and explicit language of the treaty Hsell 

before airy .ml impartial tribunal, the qui 

1 



18 

of boundary and jurisdiction might be safely placed, with a 
perfect confidence in the issue. But the treaty, though defi- 
nite in its descriptions, and requiring no foreign aid in its in- 
terpretation, only adopted the boundaries of provinces which 
had been defined, established and recognised by tiie crown and 
government of Great Britain, in their different acts from 1621 
to H7j, which will appear b) a recunence to the descriptive 
language contained in tiie patents, charters, proclamations, 
and acts of parliament, betore quoted, and nearly in the same 
language. There can theiefore, be no doubt, that the ministers 
of both governments, intended to adopt, and did adopt in the 
treaty of peace, as the boundary of the United States, the 
boundaries between the provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia 
on the one part, and Massachusetts on the other part, which 
had been established by, and had long been familiar to the 
government of Great Britain. This construction, if any fur- 
ther support were necessary, is amply and fully supported by 
the discussions, which led to, and the manner in which the 
boundaries were concluded by the ministers who negotiated 
the provisonal treaty of peace. The negotiation was carried 
in form, with Mr Oswald, who advised with Mr. Fitzherbert 
the minister to the court of Versailles, but in fact with the 
British Cabinet. Mr. Oswald did little or nothing more, not 
having authority, than to make such propositions as the Brit- 
ish Cabinet from time to time, according to circumstances, 
commanded, and receive such as our ministers made, until 
near the close of the discussion, when he was clothed with 
full powers. 

A provision in favor of the loyalists, was long and ardently 
urged by the British, and as ardently resisted by our ministers 
— the right to the fisheries was urged and insisted on by our 
ministers, and made a Sine qua non by a part, and resisted by 
the British, but finally adopted, both of which topics occupi- 
ed much time. The fixing and defining the boundaries of the 
United States also occupied much time, and no part or portion 
of it was so diligently examined and discussed, as the eastern 
and northern boundaries of the present State of Maine. The 
British in the first place insisted upon Piscataqua river as the 
eastern limit of the United States, then retreated to the Ken- 
nebec, and as a last resort would consent to go as far as the 
Penobscot. During this, as during the other parts of the dis- 
cussion, messengers were continually crossing and recrossing 
the channel ; among the messengers and aids to the British, 
the ancient clerk of the board of trade and plantations appear- 
ed with volumes of records from that department, from which 
he read whatever there was which tended to show, the Dis- 
trict of Maine or any part of it,was not before that time with- 



in the jurisdiction of Mai icbu etti bay. Tin- American 
minister* in theii turn produced aundrj acta ol the colonial 
government ol Massachusetts bay, • i ving the jurisdiction 
which had be - • i-ed by her, the eport ol the attorney 
and - 'In H". generals n i i had • 1 1 « >n the matte bei >_: re < i I 
tu them, decided upon the sund ■ pc it ions, applii ations, and 
claimi made foi II thecountrj i ween 1 1 1 «.- Sagadahoc, Ken- 
nebec, and St Croi] aud their decision, after examining all 
the i i i inst them, and in favor of the jurisdiction 

ol N i > -■ < 1 1 < i < i- bay. Also Go\e Hutchinson's report 

wheiein the right • I Massachusetts bay is discussed, and .1 \ ol- 
ume "i the d< ingi ol the Commissioners al Paris. 

w in ii the l'i i'i-Ii n listed lipon limiting the I niti I s, .<ir- 
tn the l'i-i alaqua, the Kennebec, or the Penobscot, 1 1 * * - niinis- 
i. >l the ' lited States), or some of them insisted upon going 
tu the St. John, but finally agreed to adhere t" the charter of 
M.i sachusetts bay. That they did il" that, most manifestly 
appears from .1 comparison of the treaty with the patents, 

Hi i-. proclamations and acts ol parliament herein before 

qui ■ i 

Thai it un* the iiitr:ifi.ni of tin- commissioners to adopt the 
boundaries between the provinces of Quebec and Nova Scotia 
on the one part, and Massachusetts bay on tin- other part, was 
esslj conceded and admitted on the part of the British in 
the discussions under the fifth article ofthe treaty of 1794. 
It even, it' possible, was more than ad nitted it is one if not the 
chiel ba i- of the whole argument. and was enforced "itli 
ability. 

The British agent in lii- memorial of claim says, "by tin- 

s.ii.l Sd article herein before ci ed, of tlic treaty of peace, it 

appears t.> be clearly intended, thai no part of the province ol 

N S tia should be then • i I by I • i ~ Baid Majestv to 

the said I nited States. Bat thai the same province of Nova 

ccordinsj to its ancient and former limits, should be 

and remain a part of the territory of In- said Majesty, as lii~ 

->\A Majesty then and before thai time bad held and posse 

tin - 1 me " \ : tin in his argument he says, "to facilitate the 

investi ration of tlir pre ent question there appears to be one 

ig principle that - to be explicit!) established by 

the very terms of the treaty of peace^and which mighl in- 

be fairlj cons - an axiom in the present discus ion, 

to wh — Thni it inn clearly intended by the second artirlr ■ 

treaty that no jxirt \' . Scotia tkntddbt t't'rrliy 

tided by h .'/ United Stab Th< words made use 

"I in thai irticle will not admil "fa different construction, 
the I nited States, being expressly bounded east by the <\i<trrr» 



20 

boundaries of the province of Nova Scotia. The description 
of the treaty in this part of the boundaries of tlie United 
Stales is a*, follows : From the northwest angle of Nova Sco- 
tia, to wit, that angle which is formed by a line drawn due 
north from the source of the St. Croix to the highlands which 
divide thore rivers that empty themselves into the St. Law- 
rence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean" Now 
if the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, agreeable to these clear 
and express words of the treaty, is formed by such a north 
line from the source of the St. Croix to the highlands, tiiat 
north line and those highlands must be the western and north- 
ern boundary of Nova Scotia." 

And the British agent in pursuing his argument further, 
says, that by the treaty of 17G3, " all the French possessi is 
upon the continent of North America were ceded to Great 
Britain; the province of Quebec was created and established 
by the royal proclamation of the 7th of October of that year, 
bounded on the south by the highlands which divide the rivers 
that empty themselves into the river St. Lawrence from tho e 
which Jail into the Sea or Atlantic Ocean, thereby altering the 
northern boundary of the province of Nova Scotia from the 
southern shores of the river St. Lawrence to those highlands, 
there being no longer any apprehension of disturbance from 
the French, it now became necessary for the settlement of the 
country that had been in dispute between the two nations to 
ascertain the boundary line between the provinces of Nova 
Scotia and Massachusetts Bay." 

Having tpioted in the preceding pages the main documents 
on which our title rests, there will not, in the sequel, be a ne- 
cessity for any tiling more than general allusions By a re- 
currence to the history of that time it will be seen that the 
treaty was opposed in the British parliament, but it was 
opposed by those who had latelv been in power, and op- 
position to the ministry seems to have constituted the lead- 
leading objection; so far as the treaty with the United States 
came in question the objections raised were on account of there 
being no provision in favor of the loyalists, and the right to 
the fisheries being secured to the United States, but there was 
no objection to it on account of the boundaries therein pre- 
scribed. If the boundaries had not been such as were well 
known and familiar from their own records, the variance 
would have produced scrutiny, and if any objection could 
have been raised against it on that account, it would have 
been brought forward to increase and enforce their other ob- 
jections. 

Wlion the river St. Croix had been consecrated by De 
Monts in 1C04, and by its h ing the first resting place of Eu- 



J I 

ins, who became permane it settlers in tin tortlu n p 
of Pi ■ ■ i; and « hen, rroin thai circa Dsta e and 

frmn :.ii exi edition "I v n Sa 1 Kx til, its na . I it- 

u in ac oss the Atlantic, yet from the imperfect geograp I 
know led e that time, the position of it could not have 
know H to the Europeans, and when, in the pro ecnti >;i "I the 
settlement ol the countrj . other places became in ire alluring, 
and the river St. Croix and the country i>n its borders did n 't 
become the scite "i m n % Fettlemenl or military post, and the 

: pursue thcii fishe ies and tl 

ut'molestation, and when, also, man o i m the 

ci .1 ; were afterwards d< i ed bv the same name and when 
•11 the maps prior to the Kuu ic n Re^ ilution were imperfect, 
it u 'i w mderful that doubts, and lerious doubts arose as to 
, i . . • i i l.n\ betvt een t he prot ince 

of x - i . . chusetts bay and the province of N Scotia. Hence, 
St Croix w .i- i part of the boundarj between the 

province*, when 1 1 j - on the coast began to ap- 

I ■ ither, i' became tie >■ arj to asce tain the river 

irulj inte ded, to prevent collision and the conflict of juris- 
di< I ton. 

i e the Ameri Ret oluti in, and i earl; as I '■>>■ 
l ". ■ ne I the serious research and in- 

\ i [the respective pr< it im ■ I ■ im t he 1 1 

'. i i • bay, made on 

the sp . ti .in the c :urrenl information <>i" all the natives; 

a'l.l trout all the maps i> their n hi they were con- 
vinced that the rivet Maga^uadavtc wa the river St. Croix, 
stn Ii wa- the tradition, and such was the « ilusion. 

It ge i 'll\ waa considered and believed in the province of 
M - ... is bay,tbal it was bounded east by the river M 

i la vie and by a line drawn due north from it ree to the 

Im hl.ii. I- w 1 1 i<- 1 1 divide the rivers that empty themselves into 
the Si Lawrence from those which fall into the sea, or in 
other word . by a line drawn due north from the source of the 
M | davic river to the southern line of the province 
of Qu< ' which had, by proclamation, been created the 

Fr. The province ol N - • ■ >t in on the other 
tand, believed, that the province extended westward to the 

river Sch Ii''. and was bound* I weal by the east line ofthe 

i Massachusetts Bay, and north by th<' afore: tid 
b line of the province of Qui ■ lm| essed with such 
a belief, the Governor of Nova Scotia, as the settlements 
ded westward, atnl individuals wished for grants of I tnd 
made them, and from the year 1765 t" l"l made sundrj 
grants of land. Kins between tin- M tgagttadavic and the 
Schoodic Ri i 



22 

Such were the different opinions entertained at the com- 
mencement of the revolution, and such they continued to be, 
•when tne provisional treaty and the treaty of peace were 
concluded. When the provinces were cut asunder, and 
ceased to be under the control of the same general sove- 
reignty, and after' the close of the war, the loyalists settled 
on the eastern hanks of the Schoodic, and extended their set- 
tlements between that, and the Magaguadavic rivers, under 
the grants of tiie province of Nova Scotia or the crown ; the 
attention of Massachusetts was aroused, and called distinctly 
to the subject, and the government, July 7, 1784, passed 
a " Resohe for appointing Agents to the eastern part of this 
State, to inform then. selves of encroachments made by the 
British subjects ; and instructing them how to proceed. The 
Agents were appointed, repaired to the place where the dis- 
pute existed, viewed the rivers, and made all such other 
enquiries as were within their power, and became convinced 
that the river Mag aguadavic was the river St. Croix, of the 
treaty of 1783. In answer to enquiries made by the Lieuten- 
ant Governor of Massachusetts, dated Autevil, near Paris, 
October 25, 1784, toe late John Adams, one of the negotiators 
of the provisional, and the treaty of peace, says " We had 
before us, through the whole negotiation, a variety of maps, 
but it was Mitchell's map upon which was marked out the 
whole boundary line of the United States ; and the river St. 
Croix, which was fixed on was, upon that map, the nearest to 
the St. Johns, so that in all equity, good conscience and honor, 
the river next to the St. John's, should be the boundary. I 
am glad the General Court are taking earlv measures and 
hope they will pursue them steadily until the point is settled, 
which it may be now amicably ; if neglected long, it may 
be more difficult." Massachusetts became confirmed in her 
claim, as her inquiries and researches were extended. She 
pressed her claim upon the consideration of Congress, and 
upon the consideration of the governors of Nova Scotia and 
New-Brunswick. Representations were made by Congress 
to the government of Great Britain, through the minister of 
the United States. 

The different parties so far from settling the difficulties, 
probably became more and more confirmed in their different 
opinions. After the organization of the government of the 
United States under t he constitution, by a resolve passed Feb. 
1, 1790, it was " Re-olved, that his excellency the Governor 
be, and he hereby is requested to write to the President of the 
United States, in behalf of this commonwealth, informing 
him that the subjects of his Britannic Majesty have made, and 



23 

-nil continue to make encroachment! >m the Eastern Boundarj 
»it tins commonwealth, in the opinion "I the legi lature con- 
trary i" the treat) ol peace; and that bk excellenc) be re 
quested i" forward web, document! .1- maj be nece* arj t>> 
substantiate t !■*- I Tim- Maasai bo etta called on the 

government <'f the ' nited States, i" protect them in the poa» 
■enion "i their ten iton 

The doubta which baa arisen, extended no farther than to 
what river waa intended bj the river >t- Croix in the treatj of 
1183 ; the treat} <>nl\ describing it bj it* name, dot could they, 
for when tli.it waa aettied the nil.- waa clearly and distinctly 
giveu for finding the uorthwest angle of Nova Scotia TI1.1t 
1- . Ir.iily implied in the first pari of the fifth article of the 
treatj of 1794; for it says, " Whereaa doubta have arisen 
what iiMi waa truJj intended under the name ofthe river 
Si < roix, mentioned in the said treaty of peace, and forming 
apart ofthe boundary therein described, that question shall 
ed to the final decision of commissioners." rhesame 
article made it the duty of the commissioners, " by a declai a- 
tion under theii hands and seals, to decide what rh er w aa the 
rivei St ( roix intended by the treaty, and further to describe 
the river and to particularize the latitude and longitude ol its 
mouth and it- source. It any othei doubta could have existed, 
<ii 1! the residue of the line could nol have been ascertai ed l>y 
a survey, or ii it had not been considered thai ascertaining 
the river Si Croii nettled the whole dispute, and if such were 
Dot the convictions of tin- cootrai tin; parties, it is not unrea- 
sonable to suppose, tha< further provisions would have lieen 
introduced into the tre tty. 

h waa contended by the agent of the United State- hc-fore 
the commissioners, thai the river M lavic was the river 

m ( roix truly intended bj the treaty of 1788, and he found- 
ed lii- claims and argument on many deposit ioi - of the native-, 
.md of the persona who first settled in thai pert "l the country, 
00 the examination and reports of agenta on the letters and 
testimony ol several other persona and on sundry maps 

It waa contended bj the agent for bis Britannic Majesty, 
thai the river Scoudiae waa the river St. Croix truly intended 
by the treat) ol 1 188, and he founded bia argument on the 
grant to Sir William oJexander, Lea Cerbot and Cbatnplains 

histories of the voyagi 1 I '• Monte, and their descripti 1 

the country, the commissions to Governors of Nova Scotia, 
from 1719 to 1771, the proclamation of 1763, and tw< 
parliament of the fourteenth of G< • and sundry mapa* 
and depositions- His argument ami tin- facta tod documents 
upon which he founded it, clearly admita and demonstrates. 

* S«o AppanJit 



24, 

that the only uncertainty was, as to what river was intended 
by the river St. Croix, and that from the source of the river 
which the commissioners should decide and designate accord- 
ing to the treaty of 1 794, the eastern boundary line of the 
United States and the western boundary of the province of 
Nova Scotia must commence and continue due north to the 
highlands, to wit : the highlands bet-ween the river St. Law- 
rence and the Restigouche'&Y the St. John, according as t lie 
source should be fixed further east or further west. He ex- 
pressly admits that the line due north from the St. Croix will, 
in any event, cross the river St. John to the highlands, be- 
tween that, and the river St. Lawrence, to wit: a the lands which 
divide the streams which flow into the St. Lawrence from 
those which fall into the Atlantic* 

The discussion was closed in 1798, and the time had not then 
arrived, when from "cupidity," or a desire to establish a line 
from which they could attack the United States in the rear, 
while their navy should attack them on the sea board, when 
they were determined to acquire bv effrontery or sophistry the 
territory, which they had sought in vain as a cession. 

The commissioners on the 25th of October, 179S, made the 
declaration under their hands and seals, deciding what, and 
describing the river also, which was truly intended by the 
river St. Croix, in the treat v of 1783.f Prior, however, to 
their making their final declaration, they had agreed, and 
were about making it the final declaration, that the river 
Schoodic, from its mouth at Joes Point to the lake Genesa- 
granagum-sis, now called the round lake, being the lowest 
of the western Schoodic lakes, was the river St Croix of the 
treaty ; which declaration thev did not make, but by the 
agreement or consent of the agents of the United States and 
Great Britain, and the advice of the British Minister J They 
adopted the branch called the Cheputnetecook, to its source, as 
a part of the river which they were to deride and designate. If 
the British government gained no advanta e in the decision of 
the commissioners, as, from the evidence submitted, the 
commissioners might well have derided that the Magaguada- 
vie was the river St. Croix intended by the treaty, thev did in 
fact gain a most decided and important advantage in the adop- 
tion ofthe source of the Cheputnetecook. instead of the source 
of the other branch ofthe Schoodic river, where it issues from 
the lake Gehesagranagum-sis, bein;;the first lake on the west- 
ern branch ofthe Schoodic. above its junction with the Cheput- 
netecook. By an inspection of the map, it will appear that 
the British have sained a tract of land, by a change' of the 
declaration of the commissioners, as to the source ofthe river 



* Appendix 11. t Appendix 12. $ Appendix 13. 



• 



u 

Si ( i ..iv, of mora than one hundi ed and forty milei in length) 
■j mora ill. in ten utiles in breadth. These fact* are not 
n.uni'il, because there in any <li position, on our part, to violate 

the g I faith pledged in the treaty, and the decision which 

was thui amicabl) made. The British, il t in - ^ be, •> they 
declare themselves to be, u a great, honorable, and magnan- 
imous nation," ought equally to aliiile the decision and it* 
consequences, in good faith, more e pecially as they gai ted 
mi much by the result. Here every real doubt or difficulty 
of any importance waa lettled and removed : ami nothing 
remained but to run and mark the line, and erect it- monu- 
in. its. Trifling differences in surveying the line, might occur , 

arising IV. im the, variati »f th sedle, and from the peculiar 

situation trf the land on the line "I the government of U 11 
at the northwest angle "I No> i Scotia, one of which .\ mid 
tend in change the longitude, and the other the 1 1 1 1 1 1 1<- »f tuc 
possibly a mile ; but not in any instance I i a distance of any 
importance to either government. Some trifling differ* 
might also arise in surveying the line between the govern- 
ment of Quebec and Massachusetts, in running the line south- 
westerly from the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, as to 
the precise points which divide the waters, and tin* lines 
which should connect those points ; but all such differences 
an- within a very narrow compass. That the only subject 'f 
iliiulit or difficulty of any importance was whal river was 
truly intended by the river St. Croix, i- not only conceded 
by the treaty of 1794, but i- demonstrated by the documen- 
tary evidence produced by the \_ent of his Britannic Majes- 
ty, to wit. the patent-, charters, proclamations, and acts of 
Parliament, ami bis arguments founded upon these docu- 
■Bents . bis argument being, in fact, founded upon this plain 
and simple prop wition, that the line- described by tin- I 
of 1 *""■!. win- and were intended to be the line- which had 
•efore been established, between the province of Massachu- 
setts Bay, on the one hand, and the provinces of Quebec and 

N 9 ti.i on the other * 

When the subject is again recurred to by the res pec tive 
governments, it i* not tn ted is a subject involving any 
thing mora than possible difficulties of trifling importance. 
Hence in ■ convention between his Britannic Majesty and the 
United States, which was dated the 19th da; ol May, I 
but which was n..t ratified hv the United States, instead ol 
ting, th.it w here is doubts have arisen \. as in the trea- 
ty of 1794, says, ■■ Whereas i' has I - expedient that the 

northwest angli of Nova Si tia, mentioned and de cribed in 
tin treaty of peace between hit M ■ . and the United 
States, should bs ined ind determini I, and that the 



* Apr* 

4 



26 

line between the source of the river St. Croix, and the said 
Borth\ve»t an^le 61 Nova Scoiia, should be run and marked, 
according to the provisions ol' tlie said treaty of peace. 1 ' And 
again, when the subject is recurred to, in a paper delivered to 
Lord ilarrowby, September 5th, 1804, the following lan- 
guage is med : " By tne treaty of 176.3, between the United 
States and Great Britain, the boundary between those States 
and Nova Scotia and Canada, is fixed by a line, which is to 
run along the highlands bounding the southern voters of the 
St Lawrence." The same subject is once more recurred to 
by our Ministers at the Court of St. James, in April, 1807, 
and the same language is n.-ed in a proposed article on the 
same subject, as was used in the unratified convention of 
1803, before recited. 

The subject is not again recurred to between the respective 
governments until 1814, in the correspondence which pre- 
ceded, and in the fifth article of the Treaty of Ghent. In or- 
der to arrive at a lull and perfect knowledge of the facts, to 
the end that the just and ti ue interpretation of the fifth article 
of the Treaty of Ghent may more fully appear, a particular 
examination of the correspondence which preceded it, between 
the ministers of the respective governments of the United 
States and Great Britain, connected with the great chain of 
evidence of title, and implied, and direct, and positive con- 
cessions of the British, is deemed important. The correspon- 
dence touching the subject in discussion is as follows. 

In the protocol made by the American Commissioners of 
the two first conferences held with the British Commissioners, 
the third point presented by the Commissioners on the part of 
the British as subjects of discussion is, " the revision of the 
boundary line between the territories of the United States and 
those of Great Britain adjoining them in North America "* 

In the protocol of conference of August S, 1814, among the 
subjects stated for discussion by the British Commissioners 
the third is "A revision of the boundary line between the 
British and American territories with a view to prevent fu- 
ture uncertainty and dispute."! 

In a letter dated Client August 12, 1814, from the American 
Commissioners to the Secretary of State.^: The British Com- 
missioners stated three subjects as those upon which it appea- 
red to them that the discussions would be likely to turn, and 
on which they were instructed. The third subject stated is 
"\ revision of the boundary ih'e between the United States 
aiul the adjacent British Colonies" With respect to this 
point, they cxpics ly disclaimed any intention on the part of 

* Slate papers, vol. 9, page 327. — tib. 330.—} ib. 320. 



their ^<>\ criiiiitiit . u< acquire an increase of territory,. and 
rqpretenled the proposed revisi is intended merely for the 

S. i . i |h.-i- ni preventing uncertainty and dispute In a letter 
[ated Ghent, August 19, IBl I. from il"' \> ican i ommie- 

uoners to the Secretary of State, the third subject stated by 
the British ( pmmissioners i* " V direct communication from 
Halifax and the pro in< c of Nen -Brutiasi ick to Quebec to be 
secured i<. Great Britain In answer to our que lion, in what 
manner thai was to be < i i we were told, that it must be 
done bj a cession to Great Britain of that portion of the Dis> 
trict of Maine, in the State of Massachusetts which inter- 
between New-Brunswick and Quebec, and prevents 
their dii e< i communication. 
In a note of the British Commissioners dated Ghent, lugoat 
81 i. tl,r\ say, "as they are de irousof stating every 

point in re ex ion with Ihe Bubject, which may reasonably 

influence thedecision of the American plenipotentiaries in tli« 
i \i rcise of their discretion, they avail them elves ol tlii- op 

(tortunitj to repeat what they have alreadj stated, that Great 
I the frontier between ker North Ameri- 
can dominions and tho$t oj the United States, dot with any view to 
am acquuition of territory-, ai men, but for the , securing 

her pom rions, and preventing futurt dispute*."] 

Then follows, s proposition thai the mi lit a r-. possession of the 
lakes sliaU be left in the bands of the British; then the note 
. .1 jii-t.-.l. there « ill 1 1 » « - r » remain for 
discussion the arrangement of the a irthwe tern boundary be- 
'u, ,., laki Su| ei ior and the Missisippi, the free nai igation of 
that river, and Such a vari i >>""j 

teeure a direct eommunieation between \< ana HoHft 

In ,i letter dated Ghent, August 84, 1 81 I. from the \meri- 

to the British Commissioners they say "Tl ndert 

ed further perceive, Ihstt ler the alle Ige 1 purp e r open- 
ins a direct communication between two of the l!;iii-li prov- 
inces in America, the British rovernment require o psssion qj 
territory fanning a J ' 

and that t hex propose, without purpose specifically ailed i ' 
to draw tin- boundary line westw m d, not fro n Ihe L ike i 
W nods, as it non is. but from I ! • 8 ' ' e 

perfectly immaterial to the United - 

of the British Government in demanding the dfoinein « n • it 
of the I nited - is to acquire territory as such, or for 

purp* m - l< ■ liable in the eyes of the world, to hi bed to 

the de*in tr| inditement "■ hate er the motire m« 
and with whatever consistency viev I onqne-t e dis- 

claimed, while demanding for herself or for the Indians, I 



•StsU pip«r>. \ol i». p. 332— 1 lb. 839 



28 

cession of territory more extensive than the whole island ot 
Great Britain, the duty marked out for the undersigned is the 
same. They have no authority to cede any part of tke territory 
of the United States; and to no stipulation to that eject will they sub- 
spribe."* 

In a letter dated Ghent, September 4, 1814, from the Brit- 
ish to the American Commissioners, they say, "With respect 
to the boundary of the District of Maine, and that of the north- 
western frontier of the United States, the undersigned were not 
prepared to anticipate the objections contained in the note ot 
the American Plenipotentiaries, that they were instructed to 
treat for the revision of their boundary lines, with the state- 
ment which thev have subsequently made, that they ha J no 
authority to cede any part however insignificant of the territories of 
the United States, although the proposal left it open for them to 
demand an equivalent for such cession in territory or otherwise. 

" The American plenipotentiaries must be aware that the 
boundary of the District of Maine has never been correctly 
ascertained ; that the one asserted at present by the American 
Government, by which the direct communication between 
Halifax and Quebec becomes interupted, was not in contem- 
plation of the British plenipotentiaries who concluded the 
treaty of 1783, and that the greater part of the territory in ques- 
tion is actually unoccupied. The undersigned are persuaded 
that an arrangement on this point might be easily made, if 
entered into with the spirit of conciliation, without any pre- 
judice to the interests of the district in question. As the ne- 
cessity for fixing some boundary for the northwestern frontier 
has been mutually acknowledged, a proposal for a discussion 
on that subject cannot be considered as a demand for a cession 
of territory, unless the United States are prepared to assert, 
there is no limit to their territories in that direction, and that 
availing themselves of the geographical error upon which that 
part of the treaty of 1783 was founded, thev will acknowledge 
no boundary whatever, then, unquestionably, any proposition 
to fix one, be it what it may, must be considered as demanding 
a large cession of territory from the United States."! 

In a letter dated Ghent, September 9, 1814, from the Ame- 
rican to the British Commissioners, the American Commis- 
sioners say, — " With regard to the cession of a part of the 
District of Maine, as to which the British plenipotentiaries 
are unable to reconcile the objections made by the under- 
signed, with their previous declarations, they have the honor 
to observe, that at the conference of the 8th ult. the British 
plenipotentiaries stated, as one of the subjects suitable for dis- 
cussion, a revision of the boundary line between the British 



State Papery vol. 9.. p. 381. t lb 



89 

jliuI American territories, with a view to prevent uncertainty 
ami dispuu ,1.1 ihi I it was on the point ill i- -t fed, thai the 
Undersigned declared that Ihey were provided with instructions 
fi"iu theii government; a declaration which did not imply 
tliut tin. were instructed to m i! e am of territorj in 

an\ quarter, "i to agree to a revision of the line, or to any 
«\< I i.i i j .c of territory where no uncertainty or dispute existed. 
"The undersigned perceive no uncertainty or mattei "I 
doubt iu the treaty of 1783 with resjiect to that part of tli« 
boundary of the District "f Maine which would be affected by 
t lie proposal ol Great I! itain on that subject. They never 
have understood that the British plenipotentiaries who signed 
that treat v had contemplated a boundary different from that 
6xed lis the treaty and which reqnires nothing more, in order 
. definitely ascertained, than to be Barveyed in conformity 
with its provisions / tnibject not having been a matter of un- 
certainty or dispute, the undersigned are not instructed upon it; 
and they can ha t no authority tn cede any pari oj ike stair oj Massa- 
oruJiat the British Government mtght consider a fair 

•OVII 

In .i letter dated Ghent, September 19. 181 I. from the British 
to tin iinerican Commissioners, they say,- "With respect to 
the boundary of the District ol Maine, the undersigned observe 
with regret, that althongh the American plenipotentiaries 
have acknowledged, themselves td be instructed to discuss ■ 
revision of Ihe boundary line, with a view to prevent uneei 
taioty and dispute, yet by assuming an exclusive right at m 

decide lehtil it <"' U ii"' a -ii'/' ctof uncertainly and dispute, Ihe 1/ hare 
rendered their \ gatory <n inadmissably partial in their ope- 

In ,i letter dated Ghent, September 86, 1*1 I, from the \mer- 
ii ao to the Bi itish I ommissioi ers, Ihej Bay, " The undersign 
ed are far from assuming the exclusive right to decide, what is, 
oe what it not a subject oj uncertainty or dispute, iriih regard to the 
Liau.dary of the District of Maine, lint until the British Pleni- 
potentiaries shall have shewn in what respect the part of that 
boundary which ir.ni/i/ he effected by their prop ..i/. u ruch a subject, 
the undersigned may he permitted thai U U not." 

The treaty of I " s -i desci ibed the boundary a> " a line to lie 
drawn along the middle of the St. Croix from it* mouth 

in tlie IJ.iv "I I'u inly, to its source, and from it* source di recti j 
north to the highlands which divide the rivers that fall into 
tin Atlantic Ocean from those which fall into the river St 
Lawrence, and thence along the said highlands to the north 
westernmost bead of Connecticut rivet -." "Doubts bavins 
•risen as to tbi S I ix designated in the treaty of ns). a prn 

- »te p»jmt«, rol. 9. p. 39<* — tp ' ■ 



30 

vision was made in that of 1794 for ascertaining it ; and il 
), iay be fairly inferred, from t lie limitation of the article to 
that sole object, that, even in the judgment of Great Britain, 
no other subject of controversy existed in relation to the ex- 
tension of the boundary line from the source of that river. 
That river and its source having been accordingly ascertained 
the undersigned are prepared to profuse the appointment of com- 
missioners by the tico governments, to extend Ine line to tne highlands; 
conformably to the treaty oj 1783. The proposal, however, of 
the British Plenipotentiaries was not to ascertain, but to vary those 
lines in such a manner as to secure a direct communication between 
Quebec and Halifax ; an alteration which could not be effected 
without a cession by the United Stales to Great Britain of all 
that portion of the State of Massachusetts intervening between 
the province of New Brunswick, and Quebec, although un- 
questionably included within the boundary lines fixed by that 
treaty. Whether it was contemplated on the part of Great 
Britain to obtain a cession with, or without an equivalent in 
frontier or otherwise, the undersigned in stating that they were 
not instructed, or authorized to treat on the subject of cession, 
have not declined to discuss any matter of uncertainty or dis- 
pute, which the British Plenipotentiaries may point out to exist, re- 
specting the boundaries in that or any other quarter, and are, 
therefore, not liable to the imputation of having rendered their 
powers on tiie subject nugatory or inadmissibly partial in their 
operation."* 

In a letter dated Ghent, October 8, 181 1, from the British 
to the American Commissioners, they say, " The British gov- 
ernment never required that all that portion of Massachusetts 
intervening between the province of New Brunswick and Que- 
bec, should be ceded to Great Britain, but only that small por- 
tion of unsettled country which interrupts the communication 
between Halifax and Quebec, (there being much doubt whether 
it does not already belong to Great Britain.")! In the letter 
dated Ghent, Oct. 21, 1S14, from the British to the American 
Commissioners, they say, " On the question of boundary be- 
tween the dominions of his Majesty and those of the United 
States, the undersigned are led to expect, from the discussion 
which this subject has already undergone, that the northwest- 
ern boundary from the lake of the Woods to the Mississippi, 
(the intended arrangement of 1803,) will be admitted without 
objection. 

" Iu regard to other boundaries t lie American Plenipotentia- 
ries, in their note of August 24, appeared in some measure to 
object to the proposition then made by the under igned, as not 
being on the basis of uli possidetis. The undersigned are wil- 



* State papers, vol, 9, p. 405. — ib. p. 415. 



si 

ling iii treat on thai basis, subject la iui h mi . l i t"n-:i t i. i n -^ a~ mo 
tu. 1 1 convenient «■ m.iv be round to require ; and thej ti . I that 
tin' American Plenipotentiaries will shew, by theii read) ac- 
ceptance i f t!ii- basis, that they dulj Bpp 1 1 ii e the i 
lion of his Majesty's government, i:i so far consulting the l> 
.ii id fair pretensions of the I nite I Si ites i-. in the relat'n e 
ation of the two countries to authorize snch a proposition."* 

In a letter dated Ghent, Octobei 54, 1814, from the Iraer- 
can to the British Commissioners tin;, say, " \m ingst the gen- 
eral observations which the undersigned in their note "I • 
24th, made on the propositions then brought forward on 
part of the British government, they remarked, tiiit • 
propositions wi i founded on the basis of uti j 

nor thai of status ante btlhun. But so far were they from sug- 
ig the uti potridetU as the ba is on which the) v <■ <■ dis- 
I tr< , that in the same note they exp 

thej had I een instructed to conclude a peace on the principle 
ol th j es I <■ toring whatever territory they might have 
Phe i ed ii-" declared in that note, that they 

had no anthoritv to cede any part of the territory oft !>• U ii- 
ti | Si ' i th it tu tin stipulation to that effe :t would they 

subscribe : and in the note .•!' tin !>t 'i ■ ■( Septe nber, after hav- 
ing shewn thai the basis of uti /)"• 'delis, such .-i- it « 
to exist at tlir commencement of the negotiation, gave no 
claim tu his Britannic Majesty to cessions of territ iry, found- 
ed upon the right oi Conquest, the ed that even if the 

chances of war should give to the British arms .i in mtary 

i flf ot In-: - parts of th< • i he l faite I States, 

such events would not alter their views with regard to t tie 
tern which they would give their consent. 

" The undersigned can onl) now repeat th trations, 

and decli g upon the basis oi uti possidetis, or upon 

arty other principle involving a <■■ I a \y part of the territory 

of tl f i y - the) have uniformly Btated, they can 

only treat up >n tlie print iple of i m ol i d restora ion of wh it- 
ev'er territory may have been taken by either party. From 
this principle they cannol recedi I thi undersigned, aftei 
the f the British Plenipotentiaries, that 

G ' B no view to the acquisition of territory in 

this ■ ■ . . m, deem it ne • Id, thai the utility of 

its'contu U on their adh • to this principle."! 

In • 1. th -■ ill I i.L \ 181 I. from the "Liner- 

ican Commissioner* \-< the S< r of S 

ting thai inarti le had been reduci I to Writing, securing mere- 
ly an Indian ti irification, h .-.'.I to be accepted, iub- 
•i. rhe ratification >>r rejection of the government of the 

BUM Fipen.vol. 9. p. 121 t \u 121 



32 

United States, say, " But will perceive that our request for 
the exchange of a project of a treaty has beea eiaded. and thai 
in their last note, tne British Plenipotentiaries have advanced 
a demand, not only new and inadmissible, but totally incom- 
patible with their uniform previous declarations, that Great 
Britain had no view in this negotiation to any acquisition of 
territory. It will be perceived, that this new pretension was 
brought forward immediately alter the accounts had been re- 
ceived, that a British force had taken possesion of all that 
part of the State of Massachusetts situated east of Penobscot 
river."* 

It having been shewn, in the first part of this report, what 
the lines between Massachusetts and Nova Scotia, and Massa- 
chusetts and the province of Quebec, as formed and estab- 
lished by the government were, prior to the provisional 
treaty, and the definitive treaty of peace of 178?, and the 
investigation which took place, and the care and diligence 
with which the subject was examined, by the commissioners 
of both governments, and the cabinet of Great Britain, and 
that it was the intention of both governments, to adopt the 
lines above mentioned, as a part of the boundary of the United 
States, and that the treaty itself, in describing the boundary, 
contains almost the precise language which the British had 
often used in relation to the same lines ; it having also been 
shewn that the only difficulty in relation to the line arose 
from the uncertainty as to what river was truly intended by 
the river St. Croix, and which uncertainty arose from facts 
and circumstances which existed long before, and at the time 
of concluding the treaties, and which were not removed by 
the treaty, in consequence of the river St. Croix not being 
designated with any more particularity, than it was before, 
in the patents, charters, acts of Parliament, and documents., 
in which it had been mentioned ; and also, that in the 
discussions on the subject between the governme.its of the 
United States and Great Britain, it had been admitted, 
more especially by the agent for the latter that let the 
commissioners designate what river they would as the river 
St. Croix, truly intended by the treaty of peace, from the 
source of that river the line run due north to the high- 
lands, the southern line of the government of Quebec, and 
the northern line of Massachusetts, and the province of 
Nova Scotia, and in any event even, if they adopted the 
most western point, which he described as the head of the 
river St. Croix, the line running north, must cross the river 
St. John to the highlands dividing the waters which fall 
into that river, from those which fall into the river St 
Lawrence. f 



State Papers, vol. 9, p. 37.'.. + Appendix II. 



It ;il-" having been further shown, th.it Bince II 3 when 
the rivet Si. i roix «.i- designated ■• t ic ( nmuiisMoners un- 
der the treat] ol 1794) from ail .,..,... and 
treaties, which had been formed 01 proposed lu be formed by 
the ( uiniuibfionen ol the t>\'> gi lernmeuts the right of the 
I nited Stales had nol been conside edaoj waj doubtful, and 
the whole object ■! the arran i i - thus attempted to be. 
had been limited to survey iug and marking the line. 

\\ nil ,i iv urrence to these facta and ircuinslam e*, a more 

particular attei u n to the correspondence which pi eceded the 

j of Ghent, which is herein be »re quoted, to the end 

tint the iu;r intent and meaning of the contracting parlies in 

the 6ftb article ol eaty ma; learly ascertained 

and better understood, is ■ "t deemed unimportant. 

The British L immis inner* ask .i revision of the Boundary 
line between the I uiu Stati ■ icenl British I 

hies, disclaiming exp esslj at the same time, any disposition to 
acquire an increase ol territory, aud Limiting their proposi- 
tion tn the simple fa< t • "I a .imi;; the line as to prc\ rut 
BDcertainty and dispute. Such was their first nroposition; 
hut a> the conferences progressed, they in some measure varied 
their proposition, and instead of asking Bimply a revision of 
the line, to prevent uncertainty ami di-pute, thev a-k a direct 
communication from Halifax and the province ol New-Bruns- 
wick tn Quebec; and when thev are requested to explain] ex- 
plicitly declare that it musl he done by i cession of that portion 
a District ■ ■ U intervenes belveenNev-Brwuvick 
and Q ■ ■ and prevents o direct lion. 

Here thev c learly and distinctly ask the territory as a cession, 
tin eby conceding the title i- nol in them, whi :h the subor- 
dinate agenti since appointed, have had the ingenuity to claim 
aaa right. The American Commissioners most clearly and 

explicit!] deny any authority on their part, to cede any por- 
tion of the territory asked of them, whether to secure the 
right of | i veeo their different provinces or crther- 

\\ i e. and the ! I e> 1 1 i . 1 1 is repeated as often ,i- the -uhjt-ct recurs 
in the conferences or eorrespondei 

The British Commissioners, in giving a construction to their 
own proposition lor sex urjng .< di • t communication between 

.Ni u -Brun-wii k and line! ec, -.i\ " their proposal left it open 
to the koterican Commissia en i equivalent for ruch 

i II territory or olherviu " Here our ri^'ht is again conr 
in language which admits no doubt, for the suppoj 
that the British would to purchase of us that terr it ory 

t" which they had title, ia absurd and preposterous The Brit- 



34 

ish are too vigilant in their negotiations, to overlook their owb 
claims, whetner well or ill founded. They are not generoui 
beyond what their inleie.t dictates, nor are they liable to the 
imputation of undue or disinterested generosity in their nego- 
tiations. 

The American Ministers most explicitly stated, that they 
■were not instructed to agree to any revision of the line where 
no uncertainty or dispute existed, and that they could perceive 
no uncertainty or matter of doubt in the treaty of 1783, with 
regard to that part of the boundary of tiie District of Maine, 
which would be effected by the proposal of Great Britain on 
the subject — That they never understood that the British plen- 
ipotentiaries who signed that treaty, had contemplated a boun- 
dary different from that fixed by the treaty, and which requires 
nothing more, in order to be definitively ascertained than to be sur- 
veyed in conformity with its provisions." The subject not having 
been a matter of uncertainty or dispute, they were not instruc- 
ted upon it, and had no authority to cede any part of the State 
of Massachusetts, even for what the British might consider a 
fair equivalent. 

To which the British Ministers replied, that although the 
American Commissioners acknowledged themselves to be in- 
structed to discuss the revision of the boundary line, yet by 
assuming to decide for themselves what was or what was not 
a subject of uncertainty or dispute, they had rendered their 
powers nugatory or inadmissably partial. 

The American Commissioners having stated their construc- 
tion of the treaty of 1783, as it applied to the line between 
Maine, and the Provinces of Nova Scotia and Canada, say that 
they have not pretended to assume any thing, but shall perse- 
vere in their opinions until the British Commissioners should 
point out, in what respect the part of the boundary, which 
would be affected by their proposal, is such a subject of uncer- 
tainty or dispute. That all the doubts which could have ever 
existed in relation to the line, were settled under the treaty of 
1794, and were prepared to propose the appointment of com- 
missioners to extend the lines to the highlands in conformity 
to the treaty of 1783. That the proposition of the British 
was to vary those lines by obtaining a cession of the territo- 
ry between New Brunswick and Quebec, although that terri- 
tory was unquestionably included within the boundary lines 
fixed by the treaty. 

Although the subject is again thus clearly pressed upon the 
consideration of the British Commissioners, and the v are call- 
ed upon to point out any uncertainty or dispute, or cause of 
uncertainty or dispute, in relation to the boundary, with a 



9p 

perfect understanding, that their acquiescence would be taken 
a~ tiie admission 01 the fact, to wit, (hat there rii no inner- 
taint v or dispute as to the boundary line; they pointed out no 
uncertainty , bul contented themsen ei b\ sax m; the " British 
ii iveruuient never required thai all that portion of Maesachu- 
letts which intervenes between the province of New Bruns- 
wick ami Quebec should be ceded to Srtat Britain, but im/i; that 
imall portioa aj territory which mterrmpti the communication telissaa 
Halifax ami Quebec there being mnch doobl whether it d as 
not already belong to Q real Britain.**) Hero ao uncertainty 
or dispute is pointed out, they do not onee say the line stops 
at Mars bill, or any other point, but admit thai it does not, by 
invariably asking tl e territory, or a communication between 
New Brunswick and Quebec or Halifax and Quebec as i cea> 
lion, Instead of meeting the proposition of the American 
Commissioners, in the frankness and eandor with which it 
was made, the] do no more than superadd a doubt, which the 
whole correspondence shews they did not believe, perhaps 
with a glimering hope that the British liovcruinenl, might 
find some daring Agent who would have the hardihood to 
el. mi, and by ingenious sophistry endeavor to maintain, as a 
right, thai which from their convictions of right and justice, 
thej requested only as a cession; some one who would not be 
restrained, by that high minded and honorable course, which 
< iujj lit ever to be preserved, to maintain the ratal ions of peace 
and harmony between nations; bul would sacrifice every con- 
ation ol thai kind to acquire a temporary advantage re- 
gaj dless of it' future results. 

kfter tin British had taken military possession of Castinc. 

and claimed, fr thai circumstance, the military possession 

of the territory of the State of Maine, east of Penobscot river, 
and having altogether failed, even in the prospect of obtain- 
ing any part of the Mate of Maine by cession, they chance 
their proposition, and, to effect the same object, propose the 
principle of i eii's, as the basis, snhject to such modifi- 

cations as mutual convenience may be found to require* To 
this proposition, the American commiwionora promptly and 
unequivocally, as they had done on all other occasions, re- 
fused treating " on the principle of uft possidetis, or upon any 
other principle involving a cession of any part of the lean- 
tor) -I the i nited Stat* 

• in it for a in enl he supposed, that when the Briti-b 

commissi >n so often requested the territory as a cession, 

and expressed a disposition /" escs on tmnoaien/, if it would lie 
received, and when they wee as'often and perenapiorilj 
denied, on the ground of total want of authority to cede, that 



36 

it was the intention of the commissioners to do any tiling 
more, t^ian to provide for the survey and marking of the 
lines, ar.d to guard against any possible difficulties of a minor 
character, such as the variation oi the needle, or the precise 
spot, where the corner, to wit, the northwest angle of Nova 
Scotia, bhould be fixed, on the range of highlands) limiting 
the sources of those rivers which empty then^elves into the 
river St. Lawre:iee, or some other possible difficulties of 
a similar character, none of which would vary the lines 
materially, or in any important degree, to either government? 
When the whole is fairly and candidly examined, such must 
be the conclusion. No other conclusion can be made, unless 
it be on the ground that the American commissioners under- 
took to exercise a power, which they so often and explicitly 
declared to the British, they did not possess, and if they did 
exercise a power which they did not possess, their acts were 
not obligatory upon the government 

A careful examination of the fifth article of the treaty of 
Gi.eat, does not involve a conclusion, that the commissioners 
departed from the power- given them, and their repeated and 
reiterated declarations. Tiie part of the article relating to 
the point under discussion, is a> follows : " Whereas neither 
that point of the highlands, lying due north from the source 
of the river St. Croix, and designated in a former treaty of 
peace between the two powers, as the northwest angle of 
Nova Scotia, nor the iiorthwesternmost head of Connecticut 
river, has yet been ascertained, and whereas that boundary 
line between the dominions of the two powers, which extends 
from the source ol the river St. Croix, directly north, to the 
above-mentioned an^le of Nova Scotia, thence along the said 
highlands which divide those rivers that empty themselves 
inti the river St. Lawrence, from tho-e which fall into the 
Atlantic, Ocean, to the north western most head of Connecticut 
river, the ice down alon:; that river to the forty-fifth decree 
of north latitude, until it strikes the river Iroquois or Catara- 
guy, has not vet been surveyed ; it is agreed for these several 
purpose*, two Commissioners shall be appointed, sworn and au- 
thorized to .ft exactly in the manner directed with respect to 
those mentioned in the next preceding article, unless otherwise 
specified in the present article. The said Commissioners shall 
have power to ascertain the points abovementioned, in confor- 
mity with the provisions of the said treaty of peace of one 
thousand >eve : . hundred and eighty three, and shall cause the 
boundary aforesaid to be surveyed and marked according to 
the said provisions. The said Commissioners shall make a 
map of said boundary, and annex it to a declaration under their 



37 

Hands anil -c.il-. certifying it to be a true map of Mid lioitmla- 
ry, and particularizing the latitude "I the north weti .iniii«- <>l 

\ i Scotia, and ol the north westernmost head ol C leeti- 

cut river, and ol inch other point* ol said boundary an the) 
ii, i . deem pi oper 

Here the question ma) !»■ repeated, baa N >va Scotia two 
northwest angles? 01 an ideal one, placed where the l * cupidity" 
or the interested views i eithei part) ma) dictate? or ia the 
northwest ■ gle "I N"\.t S< otia, the northwest angle "I Nova 

ia as est iblished by the ( rown and Government of Great 
Britain, adopted bj the treaty ol 1 78S, and recognised in the 
discussions b) the Agents under the iiitii article "I the I • 
oi 1794 ind l recognized b) all subsequent discussion 
tween the \ nited States aud Great Britain? It cannot be res* 
aonably Bupi o ed, thai the Commissioners bad any other angle 
in \ iew . i .1- the article seems to recognize .mil place 

the local 1 1 i mi i . . m tin* construction of the treaty of 

I7t$fl explained as it was by the treaty of 1794, .mil the dis- 
encbiom under thai tre ty Ii cannot be supposed tliit the 
British Commissi u< • \ >ected to rs.in, thai which they had 

requested - essiun, or the American Com raisai ra eat- 

• I to l"-r an) tiling which they had denied, from the lan- 

e used I refi ences made in the article above >|nutcd; 
but it is tn be supposed, tit i . i parties, in agreeing to the 
article, limited to the descripti in in the treaty of 1783, as the 
had been defined and the rights of the parties aider it 
had been explained by direct and implied acknowledgment! 
istruction, from the time of its adoption, intend- 
ed simply to |iru\ iile for the aurvej and marking of the line. 
N 'her conclusion can folio i . unless il be Buppoaed, that the 
high minded and* honorable men, who m I the treaty, 

did on the one pari resort to the moat despicable chicanery, 
and the other to a gross and palpable violation of the power 
anil authority to them delegated . neither of which ran be 
true It follows then, thai to fulfil this article, nothing more 
ired than to survey and mark the lines, and that the 
difficulties which could arise, if any,were ol minor conse- 
quence, nol involving in any event, but ■ tritlin'_' extent of ter- 
ritory, ami of little importance i" either government, ami by 
• Involving the title to the intervening territory be- 
\.u Brunswick and Quebec, which had often been 

•it as a cession, to secure i direct communication, and as 

. ilenie.l 

If the Agents and Commissioners of the two governments 
departed from this plain and natural interpretation of the 
■..they most hive erred from causes which are ereilit.i 



38 

ble to neitlier. If a line were to be established, contrary td 
this obvious construction, it is to be foreseen, that the party 
thus deprived of its rights, would imbibe a spirit not to be sub- 
dued, and which would seek its redress whenever it could, at 
any sacrifice. If the British colonists were to be governed by 
their true interests, they would not endeavor to acquire any 
thing by construction, against the true and common sense in- 
terpretation of all the treaties, because in that they would dis- 
cover the germs of eternal hostility. 

If, in the prosecution of the duties under this article, the 
Agent of the United States has misconstrued and extended its 
application beyond its plain and obvious construction, or had 
not a clear and distinct view of the meaning of the terms 
" highlands, which divide the waters," in the treaty of 1783, or 
was bewildered by mountains, or mountain ranges, when even 
mole hills answer the description precisely, if they do " di- 
vide the waters ivhich flow into the river St. Lawrence, from 
those which fall into the Atlantic," and if the British Agent, 
in the prosecution of his duties, under the same article, lias 
pretended that the northwest angle of Nova Scotia is at Mars 
hill, and that the line of the United States runs south west- 
wardly from that point, when the territory extending north, 
northwest, west and soutliwestwardly, is claimed as a part of 
the ancient province of Nova Scotia, thereby destroying the 
northwest angle of Nova Scotia, which had been established 
by a series of acts of the British government, and acknowl- 
edged by them to this time, and substituting therefor, a south- 
west angle, and, if from the course so absurd and preposterous 
in itself, ingenuity should obtain a temporary triumph over 
right, a question will ari^e. growing out of the nature of, and 
the organization of the State and National governments ; has 
the United States any constitutional authority to cede any part 
of an independent sovereignty composing one of its members ? 

The Commissioners of the United States who negotiated the 
treaty of Ghent, uniformly denied the right of cession, but 
whether they founded their denial on the want of authority in 
the instructions given them, or upon the Constitution of the 
United States, is not perfectly clear; if upon the first, they 
adopted a right course; if upon the last, their course was also 
right, and there must be perfect harmony of opinion, because 
either principle preserves the rights of the individual States. 
On this subject it may be important to consider the object and 
nature of the association of the States,which led to the adoption 
of the Constitution. 

The general government, which had originated in the op- 
pression of Great Britain and been sustained by the pressure 



m 

of mi external enemv, anil had carried the country through 
the Revolution, when peace was restored, »a»iini .j lu be loo 
fa u- t'oi au\ valuable purpose to the States, lis inherent 
defects had, by a few yean exper i e nc e, bee i ihewn, and iiie 
State* tor u.mt ol genera) onion were in danger ol degeuera- 
t i i iii and falling 1 1 it > ■ anarchy, and of becoming ■ prej to each 
other, or any foreign nation. The independent sovereignties 
saw the necesMU of associating ane\r, w hicii they did, and in 
that association mutually delegated limited parta of their »u\e- 
reign power for the greater neurit* si thoae retained. 

As in the first confederation iniitual defence and protection 
was a primary object, m> it >»a-. in the last confederation; a 
mutual protection, not limited to the personal rights of iodi vict- 
uals, hut extended to the full ami free e\eic IM oi the whole 

sovereign power, not delegated, to ttie extent of the territorial 
jurisdiction of the State. With this view of the object of the 
confederation, composed as it a as of independent sovereignties, 

it cannot he supposed that they ever intended to give to the 
general government any power by which they might be de- 
>tm\cd and consolidated, or by which even then- right! of 
sovereignty and jurisdiction might be abridged. It ha-, never 
been pretended that Congress, hat the power o| taking from one 
State and giving to another, or to incorporate new States within 
the limits of old ones; nor has it ever claimed to exercise 
iui li i power. The n* si i1 has ever done, or has ■ eenstitav 

ti ,| i i^ht to do. has been, to givfc it~ consent to the compact 

made between the parties immediately Inte r ested, and to admit 

the new State into the U ion. 

[f Congress da posse** the power of ceding any portion of 
an independent State, they possess a power to breakdown the 
State sovereignties by which they were created, and at their 
pleasure to produce a consolidation of those sovereignties ; a 
power which wa- never delegated or intended. If, therefore, 
the Congress of the United States attempt to exerci-c - n c li a 
power, the State thus deprived if, or limited in its right* of 
sovereignty, most submit, or enforce its ri„'ht». 

The rights of protection in the exercise of the sovereign 
p m cr of the St itc arc equal, whether it i- an exterior or iate 
rior State, and Congress can have no more constitutional righl 
to take from Maine and rede to New Brwaswiek, than thej 
bave to take from Virginia a part of her territory, and cede rl 
to North Carolina Congrt h has not claimed to exercise such 
a power, for the construction of the treaty of Ghent herein 
before given di*> not involve such a power, unless from ■ 
misconstruction of it~ provisions, limiting is il does the whole 
power uf the commission tu the tsuwyiug and »»< irking ef th» 



40 

lines, ami erecting its monuments, according to the treaty of 
1783. 

But, it will at once be seen, if the government of the United 
States yield to the misconstructions of the agents, so far a- to 
be endangered by the result, that by the misconstructions of 
the one and the ingenuity of the other, arising from a strong 
desire to acquire for his country the territory which hud been 
so often but unsuccessfully sought as a cession, and by its final 
result tiie line* of the Siateof Maine are materially changed, 
she will be as much dispossessed of her territory and sove- 
reignty, as siie would have been by a direct exercise of the 
power of cession. The one mode equally with the other in- 
volves an assumption of power which was never delegated. 
If such an unfortunate occurrence ever arises, from any can e, 
the duty which the State owes herself and her sister republics 
is plain. 

While it is the duty, as well as the interest, of individu- 
als, as well as States, to yield a peaceable a>d quiet obedience 
to every exercise of constitutional power on the part of fie 
government of the United States, it is equally their duty, and 
their interest to resist all encroachments on the rights which 
they have reserved. If a part of the State of Maine should he 
surrendered by the government of the United States, either by 
a direct or indirect exercise of the power of cession, it will 
then be a duty which she owes herself, to consider, whether 
she lias, by such an invasion of her rights, lost her right of 
sovereignty and jurisdiction. Such an exercise of power can 
have no obligatory force, and unless Maine quietly and peace- 
ably submits, it wili be tiie duty of the State-; a duty imposed 
by the Federal Government, to afford her aid and protection, 
and to aid her in regaining her rights. 

From the provisional treaty of peace in 17S2 to the treaty 
of Ghent, for a period of more than thirty-two years, the 
British always conceded our tii'e and our rights, whenever 
the subject was presented in the discussions between then and 
the United States. Even 'in the argument of the British 
Agent under the fourth article of the treaty of Ghe.it, deli- 
vered before the Commissioners in September 181 7, after the 
Board under the fifth article of the same treaty, and the agents 
had made their agreement for a survey, he unequivocally ad- 
mits and shows our tide. He savs, " That the northwest an- 
gle of Nova Scotia mentioned in the treaty as the commencing 
point in tiie boundary of the United States is the northwest 
ancjle of the -aid Province of Nova Scotia, designated in the 
grant to Sir William Alexander in 1621, subject only to such 
alteration as was occasioned by the erection of the Pro- 
vince of Quebec, 17G3." 



II 

- i 1 1 if treat) of Client and the entire failure on the part 

ie British t'> obtain the territorj bj cession ur purchase, 
.mil -. Jeptem lei ,1811 ended t" claim it 

.i> a right, an I do, in l ict, i' ■ ■ ' '" clai n i 

il ih, in they had «'\ or -< >n^lit by « ty of ce ion, b 
ing the claim much further, south and west, than i 

• ii i- .i (•■■■il nunicatiou bel w ccn Hal i 

I i i. i i In. ii is tin at make it, probably orig*- 

mated with some of th< - i :ts in the proi < to, hav- 

ing a o hold the country, endear ired to stimulate 

the government of Great I! itain, tli.it she might, by some 

I to obtain it. In order to ~'i < .\ t In 
well .i- tlio substance "l tin ir claim, ;i ■ tin", now m ike it. t'ie 
following extract is made from a work publi bed > Ii 
the organization of the commission under the fifth art 

. nt Ghent, entitled L, A top 'graphical de i i i 
Province of Lower < inada, with remarks upon I ppei 
ami mi tlu' relative connexion of b tli I' ovin e wil > I 

esol America, by Jo-eph Bon hette, Sui ■ ; 

I.nwt. Panada, Col. ( M This w >rk u •- • 
I ■ . -i it King, George TV. then Pri c< Re ent', and wa 
niril with spleudid maps. C< 1. IS niche eiri led tothe 

< (mission mderthe fifth article •ft.. G 

the a lencement, as principal su 

British. 

Hi- - - ■ • ht of land mi which the !i un'dary is 

supposed t.. pass, run- t ■ the n 'tin 

th.it tall iiitu the St. Lav floH 

Atlantic, and which I »« • i _i ' t ne !• ' • i e up >n 

that con e sends off a branch to the evtwa I, that 
the head of the Thames I I 1'- ni 

river s t. John, aiul bj that channel into the baj "t Fundy 
from those that descen I in a the At- 

lantic. 

"The main ridge eontinuinq it- • iterly ili i 

intersected bj i i im iginary line pr I i i _<■ I i'i •< coarse astro- 
nomicall) due north from the he d of the rive St. Croii ! 

- luppo i I to I e the boundarj I 

• ida .Hid the L nited S itch app« 

way in w liii-li the treaty iff 1783 isci nstrned by the \ 
'■ but which oughl to be more fairly understood as 

follows to wit : That thi lomical Hue rnoninp m th from 

the s : Croii should extend only t<> the first eas c \\ rid e, 
and thence run westerlj along! i I fthesaidrid e to the 
| ecticut, thereby equitably dividing the w 

the St. Law emptj into the A'l 



42 

within the limits of the United States, and those that have 
their streams within the British province of New Brunswick. 
It is important and must always have been in contemplation, 
that an uninterrupted communication and connexion should 
exist between all liis Majesty's North American posses-ions; 
but by the manner in which the treaty is insisted upon by the 
Opposite party, a space of more than eighty-five miles would 
be placed within the American limits, by which the British 
provinces would be completely secured; it would also prove 
the inconvenience of having the mail, from England to Que- 
bec, carried over that distance of American territory, and 
which may be deemed either a matter of indulgence or com- 
plained of as an encroachment, according to the transfer of 
the times. Within this tract is also tiie Madawaska settle- 
ment, consisting of nearly two hundred families all holding 
their grants from the British Government. England at all 
times high minded and generous never shrinks from the ful- 
fihne.it of her engagements even though from the want of po- 
litical acuteness in the persons employed, they may have been 
formed in a manner prejudicial to her interests. But at the 
same time she has a right to require that the interpretation of 
them should not be overstrained or twisted from the obvious 
meaning and intent, by a grasping cupidity after a few miles of 
country which could be of little advantage to the opposite 
party." 

The above extract has been made, because it shews the 
whole of the British claim as they have since made it, as 
well as the substance of all the arguments they have urged 
in its support ; all which has since been done by them, 
whether in making surveys, collecting documents, or making 
arguments, lor a period of more than five years, has not placed 
their pretensions in a stronger light. If subsequent occur- 
rences have given their claim any additional plausibility, it 
can only be attributed to the Agents having transgressed the 
authority given them by the treaty, and discussed a claim 
which was not submitted. Here it is wholly unnecessary to 
repeat the facts and documents herein before quoted or refer- 
red to — a mere recurrence to them and placing them in op- 
position to the British argument, shows, to use no harsher 
term, its total absurdity. 

The argument seems to be addressed to the pride of the 
British, and vanity of the Americans. — As it relates to the 
British, the argument has had its effect, but as it relates to the 
Americans, it has been a little too gross to deceive. If the dis- 
covery had been made more seasonably, it might have acquir- 
ed a temporary appearance of plausibility, but when the sub- 



jci-t had come befon Parliament and bad also been under di*> 
cua ion b\ Ihe • immumionera and Agents ol the two govern- 
ments, and 1 . » - 1 of all, when the British Commiasionen 

p evi inglj glit the territory, in every form as a cession, 

Drain eveuteen hundred and eighty-two to eighteen hundn 1 
and fourteen, a period of thirtv ; *•• \ ears, the argument i- nol 
cai< ulated to iU-. eive, and ill accords with a character .il ■■ 

fh-miuded and generous, <md irlmk never ihrinkt /<'"»i (■'"" Jul- 
.1 >J Us • 
The territory from all our resean bes never bat been claim- 
ed as a right by the British government or an) "i its < nis- 

ers or \_i its, until l>l". after the Commissioner under 
the fifth article of the treaty of Ghent was organized . but on 
the contraj > . as i> - been before shewn, the ri^lit has always 
been conceded to be in the (Juited States. Now their claim, 
stripped of its verbiage, and translated into plain language, 
rests mi i In- plain and -iuiple j » i- « • | » isition — the count rj lii 
tween two ol our province*, it will be useful to us, nol onlj by 
facilitating communicati in, but il is important also in a milita- 
ry point ol view — we could not obtain it l>> cession, though 
we were willing to give an equivalent, but we « uni it, and we 

v ill ll.lM' it. 

The State of Massachusetl nsidcring her right "f sove- 

ity and jurisdiction co-extensive w itl> her title, did not an- 
ticipate anj disturbance or intrusion, and did not consider ber- 
aell nnder anj necessity of cultivating her whole territory, or 
(if keeping up a uiilitary force (<>r it- protection, relying upon 
the good faith which bad appeared. to manifest itself on the 
part "i the British in the negotiation* and discussions between 
them and the I nited States, and presuming also that the l>i it 

rah, v\ beuever ihey were fo I to have crossed ber lines, would 

disavow the act and restore the < ntry — he had from time 

totimemadi grants of her unappropriated I i the same 

wi e -'>u_lit for public and private purpose . 9 le early 
granted Man bill t<> some <>f the soldiers of the revolution. 
In Sepi 1806, Massachusetts conveyed two half townships, 
one to Deerfield and the other to Westfield Academies, lying 
"i -■ of the township of Wars bill, pursuant to a survey and 

I dan made in conformity with the provision* of a resoli <• which 
lad passed some time befi e In Di 1801 she conveyed one 
township lying on both ides of the Aroostook and near the 

Ran line, from the - mrce of th< - I pit, ace 
a selection, survej and plan, mide under a revive parsed in 
March, 1806. In January, 1808 onveyed ten thousand 
acres lying west of the aforesaid township nth sides 
hi" tit- Aroostook, pursuant to a su plan made under 
a r eso l ve of March, 1806. Had the residue of territory I * 



44 

applied for, site would have continued granting it, in lai <xe 
or ..all tracts, until she had granted the whole, provided the 
object of t lie grants had met her approbation. Hence she 
not onlyexeroi ed suvereignpower co-extensive with her title, 
but ai-o individual acts of sovereignty, and to what extent she 
plea cd. 

T..e restrictive system adopted by the government of the 
United Stales, commencing about this period, checked the nen- 
eral business of the country, and at the same time allayed the 
spirit (if improvement and settlement, and entirely put a stop 
to speculations in wild lands, and there being no mire appli- 
ca i ns for grants of wild lands. she had no occasion to make 
thein. The war succeeded, which still further checked the 
pi (Vie- of improvement and settlement, and several years were 
reqni ed to recover from the diversions occasioned by it; hence 
from a coincidence of circumstances no grants were made. 

Entertaining no suspicion that any claim would be made by 
the British, or discussed by tin- agents, inconsistent with every 
thing which bad transpired, and especially in all the correspond- 
ence which had preceded, and in the treaty of Ghent itself, she 
i ild have bad no reason to presume that claims would be made 
and urged, which could infringe her rights of soverignty and 
jurisdiction. Hence she reposed in peifect confidence, that the 
lines would be run and marked, and monuments erected accord- 
ing to her title, as it had always been understood by her, and 
conceded In the British, and therefore made no inquires to 
asi i tain the claims urged, or the progress of the Commission. — 
In IS 19 she pas>ed the act of separation between her and the 
district of Maine, which was approved by Congress the next 
session, and Maine was admitted into the union as an Independ- 
ent State — By the act of separation Massachusetts retained the 
fee simple ol a moiety of the Wild lands, but the residue, and 
the entire sovereignty and jurisdiction was vested in Maine. — 
Maine having thus become an Independent State, and more 
than three years having elapsed after the organization of the 
commission under the fifth article of the treaty of Client, a time 
more than sufficient, to have performed all which was submitted 
and there being reports that the British agent was vigilant, and 
the American remiss, and that surveys, were going on in quar- 
ters wholly unanticipated, •die of course became anxious, and 
had reason to fear the subject was taking a direction never in 
the contemplation ol the commissioners who negotiated, or in- 
volved in the treaty itself. The Governor of the State noticed 
the subject, in the first message which was delivered June 2d 
1820, to both branches of the Legislature, He savs, "What 
progress has been made under the fifth article of the British 



treaty in settling the eastern boundary of Ifae Stale against the 
province ol New-Brunswick, and ibe northern boundary •■_ 
■hat of lower Canada, I am suable in inform jm \- tliis 

State aiul M - have -■. d t-p an interest in ibe >. til.— 

mem oi these boundaries, theft would leen to have been :i | 

pin t\ in ibe sgeot appointed on the pan <>i the I lib 

j t tken frcim one "i" these in Stai But i er < 

circumstances you will consider whether the interesl ol 

- imt require from \'>n the adopti >i such arrange- 

- a« are best calco i :">ni the . • it sue li in- 

formation m relation to this important subject as the , 
this State have it in their power to give.* 1 

I . \i • .iii-vi. .. ■ : -i, i ■• i .:!, June 183 ■ in it 

irnonu other ' R ' "That tie Governoi ol ibis 

be requested t<> transmit to I I' dent of the United 

of the Resolve, ihh such repn 

.- in relation to th . .- i - I p 

best calculated to effect the object." Th 

with bj lli< Governor, who in July, 1 82 py ol 

: . and ami 

u mm it.- mnl Maine 

the right of soil, that Maine has also a State jurisdiction, 
that the people hen have not the honor of an acquaintance 
either will er or agent, and havi not been, advis- 

>r tin- delay to the present tune it will not be 
•nil a matter of surprise ill >t tin ir e\tr- itude 

should be >ueh as to render desirable, information on a su 
illy inter. 
It is not unknown to the people of this state that the British 
hi- been ver) attentive to the businesjn which he lias I 
.eii, and that Iip has canst il ile- counti v near t ie linei to be 
■ \ unined ami explored in the most particular manner ; while it 
^- not understood that comparatively anj thing - been ilone 
on tin- part of the American Agent. With in.. ii as 

, the boundary being .in exten i 1 .. it would be highly 

- iti-i'.u tor) to people of this State sbonld it comport with 

lecutive of the United S »ignate a per- 

son to assist the pre-eni agent in his important duties, tn.it the 
bound try mat not only be more i ip* ditiously, but more 
tonlv adjusted." 

The -ut . f the reply wbicb was made appeared in 

next of the Governor. 

Tin- year, in the of their General powers ofsovereign- 

• I jurisdiction, the Marshall "i" Maine, uodei I the 

lint Sta , took the census of the inhabitants settled o 



46 

St. John river and its tribut ary streams west of the Meridian line 
from the monument at the source of the Saint Croix, End the 
south line of the province of Quebec, or Lower Canada. 

In the autumn of the year of 1820, an agent was sent by the 
Governor and council to explore the public lands upon the St. 
John audits bra. dies west of the meridian line from the mon- 
ument, which service he performed. 

The Governor again in his message, which was delivered Jan- 
uary II, 1821 to both branches of the Legislature, called their 
attention to the subject of the preservation of the timber on the 
public lands, and alter enumerating several places as the scenes 
of depredations, says, " it appears that trespasses within our 
acknowledged territory, particularly on the rivers Oroostook, 
De Chute, Presquille and Meduxnekeag, committed by persons 
residing in the British provinces are very great accordingly, ar- 
rangements have lately been adopted with a view to prevent such 
predatory incursions in future." 

He also states that he forwarded the Resolve of the prior ses- 
sion of the Legislature to the President, and Secretary, transmit- 
ted a copy of the same to the American Commissioners, who in 
reply " gave a reasonable ground of expectation that the final de- 
cision of the points in controversy respecting those lines would 
have been made in October last. — And from information obtain- 
ed from other sources, adds — "All reasonable hope of a speedy 
adjustment seems therefore to have vanished." 

The Governor after having received information that Brit- 
ish subjects were trespassing on the timber lands of Maine and 
Massachusetts on the Oroostook, appointed Benjamin J. Porter, 
Esquire with the advice of council to proceed immediately to 
that place, and to notify the persons whom he should find tres- 
passing on the timber lands aforesaid west of the line which had 
been run by order of the Commissioners appointed by the Uni- 
ted States and Great Britain from the monument at the source 
of the St. Croix to the line of the province of loner Canada, that 
if they would pay a proper consideration for the timber they had 
cut, and desist from any further depredation on that part of our 
territory, he was authorized to settle with them on those princi- 
ples — but if they declined, he was directed to proceed to Hotil- 
ton plantation and adopt the necessary measures, and obtain such 
assistance as in his judgment would be required, to take the 
trespassers and their teams and bring them to Houllon planta- 
tion, and there keep them until the Executive could be advised 
of the measures adopted. 

The agent thus appointed and instructed proceeded to the 
©roostook, and found British subjects trespassing there, with 



whom he settled, and received nl i the assurances required, tlmt 
ili. \ won il not r< lutn, and would di m^i from cutliug the tim- 

The efforts thus far made, not Iraving produced the intended 

re- nli-. the Legisl iture, .1 arj 16. 1832, pasted a re»olvi 

questing the Senators and Representatives of this Stan in the 
Congress of the United State « to collect inforroation touching the 
causes of the differences between the American and British Com- 
missioners under the treat} of Ghent respecting the boundary 
line, between l Sta r and the British proi ■■ of lower Cana- 
da and Not i Pcoi '. and the extent and nature of the claim I 
up b) the said British Commissioner*, The resolve was duly 
innicnted. No progn wh bowerei made and the ob- 
ject of the Resolve was not answered. In February I--'.', an 
a-. -nl was appointed J»'ith full power to pre ve ing upon 

the limber in the public lands, on the Oroostook, Mnduxnekeag 
ami Presquilla rivers and their branches west of the meridian Hoe 
from the monument, and he entered immediately m [>< mi t lie duties 
ol i • t — agency and visited the places required, and accomplished 
the obj cts of bis appointmeut. The subject is again recured '<> 
Jan. 10, 1824 bj the Governor in his . which led to no 

.. ii .it mi the part of the Legislature — Jan. 7, 1825, the 

Governor again call* the attentii I the Legislature to the sub- 

N irtbeastero boundary, stating also that he had under- 
from respectable sources, that depredations had been rom- 
mitted on our limber lands, <>n the Oroostook and Madawask i 
and oilier streams emptying into the St John : and that unless 
getic measures are speedily adopted on the part of the State, 
omr valuable timber in that region wHl be soon destroyed; and 
that from the representations, tlie depredations were committed 
by British subjects. 

This led to an investigation as far as the limit isposses- 

$ed le. the Government of this State permitted, and a resolvepas- 
sed Jao 24, I 25, among other things requesting the Governor 
of this State to correspond with the Governor "I" the province of 
■ Brunswick relative to the depredations which had been 
committed bj British lubjects on ihi t mber on the public lands 
ofthii S we • of the boundan line between tlii- Sine and 
the province "i New-Brunswick, as heretofore recognised; and 
i ■ i-i ertjin « i ■ ivernmeoi bad authorized an] persons 

to rut timber upon these lands or to settle ihi n 

The land agent of \i le a • instructed in conjunction with 
~ • n Ii | i ild be designati : by Massachusi fnona 

should be appoioted, without lb . Ibrthwith io take efli o- 

tnal measures t<» ascertain the extent of the i | ii- on the 
Itmda belonging to tbia state and Massachusetts, or on lands be- 



48 

longing to this State ; by whom the same have been committed, 
and under what authority, if any, such depredations were com- 
mitted. 

The Governor was also requested to forward each of the Sen- 
ators and Representatives in Congress from this state a copy of 
the report of the Committee on the part of the Governor's Mes- 
sage relative to depredations on the public lands, and of the Re- 
solves, and also to request them to take the necessary measures 
to obtain an early adjustment of the Northeastern boundary of 
this State. 

The Governor enclosed and forwarded the same on the 25th 
of January 1825. During the same session of the Legislature, 
February 22d, 1S25, they passed a Resolve respecting the set- 
tlers on the St. John and Madawaska rivers. " Whereas there 
are a number of settlers on the undivided public lands on the St. 
John and INlUlawaska Rivers, many of whom have resided there- 
on for more than thirty years ; therefore resolved, That the land 
agent of this State, in conjunction with such agent as may be ap- 
pointed for that purpose, on the part of Massachusetts, be, 
and he is hereby authorized and directed to make and execute 
good and sufficient deeds, conveying to such settlers in actual 
possession, as aforesaid, their heirs and assiens, one hundred 
acres each, of land, by them possessed, to include the improve- 
ments on their respective lots, they paying the said agent for the 
use. of the State, five dollars each, and the expense of surveying 
the same. 

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, June 11, 1825, did 
provide by Resolve among other things — " Whereas there are a 
number of settlers on the St, John and Madawaska rivers, many 
of whom have resided there more than thirty years, therefore re- 
solved, That the land agent ot this Commonwealth in conjunc- 
tion with such agent has been or may be appointed for that pur- 
pose on the part of the State of Maine, be, and the same is hereby 
authorized and directed to make good and sufficient deeds, con- 
vening to such settlers in actual possession as aforesaid, their heirs 
and assigns, one hundred acres each of land by them possessed 
to include their improvements on their respective lots, they pay- 
inn to the said agent, for the use of this Commonwealth five dol- 
lars each, and the expense of surveying the same." 

The agents thus authorized did in the autumn of that year 
proceed up the St. John to the Madawaska settlement, and 
thence to the mouth of the IWaryumpticook, and surveyed, and 
conveyed, two lots of land, on the 3d of October, to John Ra- 
ker and James Bacon, citizens of this State. They had settled 
above the French neutrals on the St. John and its waters : 



( • 

ami at the time when the settlements on tbe loti wire com 
.1, then n is no settle m nt within several miles ol them. They 
■ I u|i notices, stating their authority, and proposing to 
dei I . iccording to the U< solves nttder which they acted. 
<.- This year Maine ind Massachusetts, io continuing their mr- 
of the undivided lands, surveyed all which had not been 
previously doae, and conveyed two ranges of townships on the 
i- meridian line ronning north from the Monument :it the source 
of the St. Croix, and al ov< M i- Hi!', i" i |i!;ic.- within a fi m 
miles of the river St. John. The two grants of Massachusetts 
i'lf in December 1807, to the town of Plymouth, and in Jan. 
- ' w m Eat in, on the ri\rr Aroostook, according to 
surveys made iu 1807, compose a part of the ranges, 

In a letter bearing dati M B25, from the British min- 

i-irr :n Washington to the S cretarj of State of the L S 
in answer ii> hii of the CTih March preceding, complaining >'i 
the encroachments of the inhabitants ofNew Brunswick, com- 
mitted a|>on lands ol Maine ind Massachusetts, in cutting ami 

cam ing an ay timber within t li<- b idariei of those States — and 

the places where the trespasses were committed were also des- 
cribed in ihf accompanying papers, to be on the Aroostook and 
M id i«n-li rivers 

Tii.' British Minister in reply. hat lie had made in- 

qoirii S II •■ ird Douglass, the Governor of Nen Bruns- 

. and bad isored by him, that the charge, a- far as the 

Goren sent of the provinces was concerned, was unfounded, 

and that he should his best endi Bvors to put a stop to prac- 

in themselves so disgraceful, li was further stated by Sir 
. Howard, "tlrit in assuming the Government of New Bruns- 
wick, be foond that licences to cm timber, and other a< 

ty, had long been exercised on the part of Great Bri- 
tain over certain tract*, of land in which the Bi | ir 

took) •' ami Madawnska were included, heretofore well under- 
stood to belong to New Brunswick, f>ut sutueijurntty cluim-<! l>y 
,,the Commission' rs of tkt I I State* appotmied t» i 

with ikt fin:i<h Commissionrrs for adjusting tht boundary lint 
tptctive pt to these claims no disposition 

r -In Mil, on the part nf Great M itai . to u i • di " 
It is not 3 II iward intended to misrepresent 

i ii I-. became it would be entirely inconsistent with the hon< rable 

■ which he is supposed to sostain j but acquitted of 

chaige, bu representation', muitbe ittribt rnorance of the 

rot, ui want of research into the premises. Compare the bit* 

. • irj ol the negotiation of the provisional treat) of i>'mcp in 

i"-J. the doiogs ol the Comrn tinder the fifth article « f 



50 

the treaty of 1794 — more especially the argument of the British 
agent, aud all the correspondence which, preceded the treaty of 
Ghent, wherein the British Commissioners so often and so re- 
peatedly ask the country, in which the Madawaska settlement 
is included as a cession, and are so often denied by the Ameri- 
can Commissioners, on the ground that they possess no author- 
ity to make a cession, and no further comment is necessary to 
shew the falsity of his representations. 

It is further said by Sir Howard " In fact by a reference to 
documents in the possession of the British Colonial department it 
appears that the settlement at Madawaska in the province of New 
Brunswick was made under a grant from the Crown upwards of 
thirty years ago, so late as the year 1810 no claim had been ad- 
vanced by the United Slates, although th • settlement had been 
established at thu time for upwards of twenty years under a grant 
from the Government of New Brunswick and had been constantly 
designated the Madawaska settlement." 

Admitting the fact, as to the antiquity of the settlement to be 
as stated, giving the utmost extent to both modes of expression, it 
commenced under grants about the year 1790, long after the 
treaty of 1783. Unless the grants were within the province of 
No\a Scotia, they were intrusions ; that they were not within the 
province abundantly appears from all the documents before quot- 
ed in relation to the boundaries. No valid claim of national sov- 
ereignty can be based on such acts in the forum of honor, con- 
science or law. And no jurisdiction can, with any semblance of 
propriety be claimed beyond the actual possession; it cannot 
without violating the acknowledged principles, in such cases be 
extended by construction. If such were the facts and tlie settle- 
ments had been made as early as 1790 — if the British consider- 
ed that they had any claim to the territory on that account, it is 
extraordinary, 'that it should have been entirely overlooked by 
the government, its ministers and commissioners, and never have 
been discovered until 1817 or since that time; more especially 
when the treaty of 1794 and the discussions under the fifth ar- 
ticle of it wherein it was conceded that the line due north from 
the source of the St. Croix, wherever it should be established, 
crossed the St. John, to the line of the government of Quebec, 
aud by a reference to the map it will at once be seen that had 
the most westerly point been adopted which the British agent 
contended for, that the Madawaska settlement is west of the me- 
ridian and at all events within the United States. When also the 
subject of surveying the boundaries had been discussed on sev- 
eral occasions between that time and the treaty of Ghent, and 
when also during the whole discussion which led to that treaty of 
Ghent, the territory is sought as a cession and with great perse- 



{• 51 

verancc by a resort to every mode which circumstances ortlieii 

»■ own ingcnuit) suggt sted. 

But ihe 1 1' i- as stated are not admitte I. the settlement at M id- 
awaska did not succeed, bat had preceded man} years, the 
grants which Sir How ird states, and therefore cannot be said to he 
made under the grants. The settlement was made principally by 
I id neutrals, whose ancestors had lived near the bay ofFun- 
d) previous to the American revolution. They, to avoid the Bri- 
tish laws moved up theRiver St John to a place called St. Anns, 
nbw Fredrickton. After the close of the war when the British 
established « town and military post at that place and circum- 
scribed them in iheir quarters, stimulated by ilnir repugnance to 
the British, and desirous oftiving under their own n gulations — 
they pursued their course np the Aver and established them- 
selves ii Madawaska where they lived many years probably en- 
tirely unknown to the world — Some oftheir countrymen joined 
them from Canada — If the settlers or some ofthein now have 
grants from the Province of New-Brunswick, the reason for mak- 
ing such grants doe: not now appear. The intention of the Gov- 
ernment can be inferred only, from the facts disclosed, from 
which it most clearly follows, that they did not, by the intrusion 
consider themseh steudihg their rights of property orju- 

risdiction, not having stated the fact for that purpose until long 
since the treaty of Ghent. If the fact had been relied on by 
them as giving any claim the ministers who negotiated, the treaty 
of Ghent, while I leavo'riog by every means in their 

power toobtain ibe territory in which ihe Madaw a k.i settleim ni is 
situated hv cession, would not have In i n guilty of the omission. 
Sir Howard -till further savs " with r< - i to the timber cut 
h\ British subjects on theriver U'siook (Aroostook) the very 
circumstance ofits having been seized by Mr. Porter of the 
- .. • Maine proves that the inhabitants of that slate consider 
themselves as at full liberty t" appropriate all the timber in that 
district to their own ose. In truth that territory is especially rep- 
• I bv the Senate of M is lying within the acknowledged 
boundaries of thai S'ate. Now this is notoriously not the fact, 
the British Government contend i!i <t the northern boundary line 

I' of the United S running from the source of the river St. 

1 to ihe highlands is terminal! d at Mars In 11 which lies at 

the southwest of the Bistook (Aroostook) at least therefore I 

' British territory declared to be the undoubted property of tTie 
State of Maine i- but a point in abeyance. Both parties claim 
ami it appears have exercised an equal ri^ht over it." 

That the British pretended any claim to the territory to the 
* rtward of the meridian line from the «ource of the St. Croix 



and southerly of the line of the Province of Quebec or lower 
Canada was totally unknown to the United States until long after 
the treaty of Ghent and it seems to have been equally unknown 
to the British. The observation " This was notoriously not the 
fact" can only apply to a period subsequent to the treaty, when 
it had been deemed proper by individuals and the subordinate 
agents of the British Government to acquire by some means the 
territory which they could not demand as a right — The above 
observation does not appear to be true, from any thing, whirl) had 
transpired of a public character, between the American and British 
governments. — Such pretended and unfounded claims could not 
have been, and were not anticipated. But after all the preten- 
sions, the claim and exercise of right, he admits to be equal- which 
is extraordinary, when the whole is taken into consideration and 
contrasted with the recent origin of and bold as>umptions on which 
they are founded. 

It has already been shewn, that Massachusetts has made sev- 
eral grants before 1S0S, some of which were on the Aroostook 
near the meridian line, from the monument at the source of the 
rixer St. Croix, and that she and Maine, had in addition to 
their general jurisdiction, exercised all necessary acts of par- 
ticular jurisdiction. And the British subjects found there, com- 
mitting depredations on the timber, by Mr. Porter, were there as 
mere trespassers not claiming any right or authority from any 
source. It was not until long after this period, that anv per- 
sons were there under licences from the Province of New- 
Brunswick, which caused the mention of it in the Governor's 
message in Jan. 1 8 J 5 The British claim, as they make it, is 
even void of plausibility, they ought not to have claimed the ter- 
ritory upon the Bistookt, (Aroostook) and upper part of the St. 
John a id its tributary streams, as a part of the ancient province 
of Nova Scotia, but they ought to have continued the line from 
Mars hill, eastward to the Bay of Chnleurs, and have insisted 
that that was the northern line, thereby yielding a part of Nova 
Scotia, and have left the upper part of the St.John and its tributa- 
ries, and theRestigouche river, in the province ofQuebec orLower 
Canada, and if by that means, they had violated one of their favo- 
rite principles of exposition, to wit, that the province which has 
the mouth, ought also to have the sources of the river, still the 
whole would have been within die general sovereignty of Great 
Bfiitiiin, one province only gaining more than the other lost; yet 
such a claim, though more plausible, by relieving them from the 
solecism of destroying the northwest angle, or rather converting 
the northwest angle of Nova Scotia into a southwest angle, which 
can only be arrived at, by running first north for more than for- 



m 

t\ miles from the monument, at the source of the river St. Croix, 
inn! then southwesterly for more than one hundred milet, woold 
have been no better, nor would it be based on ■ more solid or 
substantial authority. 

1 British .Mmisi'T then observes " the Governor ofNew- 
Rriin.-w ifk infonns me, be dors not consider himself st 

liberty to alter in any «a\ the existing Nate of things 

i ,i~ regards the district shove mentioned, but he as- 

> .. dm that he «dl take especial care to ki"p well within the 

limits of the line of ilutv marked out for him and considering the 
shape which tins qnestioo is now issummg l"' will feel it irnpera- 
i \> mi hnn to applj immediate!} for -till more prei ise mstroc- 
tioas for guardaoce of his conduct in ■ matter of so much delica- 
te." 

More notice has been taken of the foregoing letter than its un- 
portance otherwise demanded, on account of its being the tir-t 
dooameotof an official character in the archives of this State, 
which goes to show the British claim as it had been made by 
lb- ir agent under the tilth article of the treaty of Ghent 

The Secretary of State, Nov. 2Mb, loJ.i, wrote the gover- 
noi of thi> State, enclosing a copy of s note from the British 
Minister to him, and a copy of a note from Sir Howard Dong- 
ll li. t i-h Ministei — On the S&tfa December, 1^20, the 
G srnorof this State transmitted the Secretary of State of 
the United States, a letter with s copy of the resolve of this State 
cting the settlers on the Sw. John and the Madawaska riv- 
er- under which the ageni of the State acted — i copy of the re- 
of the legist iture of M -- ichusetts respecting the same — 
al-> the report of the land agent of Maine, detailing particular- 
ly the transactions of the two agents under said resolves — Prom 

i report it appears thai the land Sgentl had pursued the 

authority, given them bv the resolves, and had not done some 
of the act- complained ol l>\ the British. 

The subject of the northeastern boundary was again noticed 
by th< Govt rnur in In- message to both branches of the h . 
tare the 7th Jan. 1826, which was answered by the legislature 

in a report on the l"th Januaiv. and I rC SOr r S on the 36th of 
Januarj of the same year. •• That the governor for the lime 
beini.be authorized and requested, to tik>- such measures as he 
tedieol ind effectual to procure for the use of the 
S te. copies of aU sacb maps, documente, publications, papers 
and surveys, r>l i tinz to the northeastern boundary- ol ilia Uni- 
ted States, d> ■■ ribed in the ire itj of I 783, anJ such other in- 
fbrmatioa ue that sabjeci ss he may deem necessary and useful 
for this Stale to be I of." 



54 

'• That the Governor of this State in conjunction with the 
Governor of Massachusetts, (provided the said Commonwealth 
shall concur in the measure) be authorized to cause the eastern 
and northeastern lines of the State of Maine to be explored, 
and the monuments upon these lines, mentioned in the treaty of 
1783, to be ascertained in such a manner as may be deemed 
most expedient," 

The surveys of the unappropriated lands of Maine and Mas- 
sachusetts, were continued and five ranges of townships were 
surveyed, and extending from the line drawn west from the mon- 
ument and extending from that line to Fish river and near the 
river St. John. 

The Fi;h river road extending from the east branch of the 
Penobscot river, northwardly to Fish river, was laid out also 
under the authority of the States. 

The resolve was communicated to the Senators of this State 
in the Congress of the United States, and enclosed by the Gov- 
ernor on the day of its passage. And theie was procured, in 
consequence of it, a copy of the general map compiled by the 
United States' surveyors, from surveys made under the fifth arti- 
cle of the treaty of Ghent. 

The subject was again presented to both branches of the leg- 
islature by the Governor, in his message, on the 4th of January 
1827 — And the Governor also by special message communica- 
ted a letter, from the Secretary of State of the United States, 
dated January 29th, of the same year, accompanied by a letter 
of Charles R. Vaughan, Esq. the British Minister, dati d Jan. 
7, 1827, wherein he complains of the acts of Maine and 
Massachusetts, in surveying and laying out townships and roads, 
and concludes by saying, " I think it adviseableto make you ac- 
quainted without delay with the communication which I have re- 
ceived from the Lieut. Governor of New Brunswick, whom I 
beg leave to assure you cautiously abstains on his part from ex- 
ercising any authority in the disputed territory which could in- 
vite encroachments as a measure of retaliation." All which 
were considered and became the subject of a report in the legis- 
lature on the 12th day of February 1827, and a Resolve was 
passed thereon, on the 23d day of the same month, Respecting 
the Northeastern boundary of the State, to wit. — 

" Resolved, That the Governor be, and he is hereby request- 
ed to take all such measures, both in acquiring information and 
in procuring a speedy adjustment of the dispute according to the 
treaty of 1 783 as he may deem expedient and for the interest 
of the State." 

To this period, nothing of any importance had been obtained 
under the Resolves of the State although they had been regular- 



I immunicated, and .ill the information, which was in poi 
a i tlii' government of ibis Slate consisted, in the lew and re- 
i copies of letters from the I > r i t i - 1 1 Minister, which had 
been elicited bj the resolves of the State >>i Maine •, and be- 
yond thai there » ,> . no official information ol the proceedin 

i nission under the fifth article of the treat) i>i Ghent, not 
lima set up by the British, except what was derived from 
public reports, vague io their nature and uncertain iutheirchar- 
It i. i~ not until long after the commissioners had termin- 
ated, their labors, tii.it an\ ofiu ial communication was made, 
which tended to shew the British Clai a, and even thai from the 
enesa of its phraseology teemed to convey, uo othei distinct 
idea, than that, the British, from causes known to themselves, 
claimed all the country north and « « st of Mars hill, as a part of 
the ancient pruvinoe of Nova Sootia, and even that did not ap- 

/nlil mar the middle of tli<- \ I Bl 1 --'.">. The delav to give 

information to the State of Mime, when it had been so often re- 
quested p urn ul.irK in the letter of the Governor, of July 1820, 
to the executive of the United Stales, oontaining a request that 
some one might be added from the State of Maine to assist in 

camioatioo of the subject and considering that the sovteign- 
l) of the whole country tu which the ISntMi had,' in such an ex- 
traordinary manner and so contrary to th ions which pre- 

! the treat] ol Ghi at, pretended a claim was in Maine, and 

that the joxeiiunent otthe I'nil. Si had uo constitutional 

Authority to cede any portion of an independent sovreignty, 
directly or bj ction, is certaial) verj extraordinary, — 

And it cannot fail to appear exti irdJflary that the same policy 
on the part of the government of the United States should be 
continued, when h\ uniting Maine in the controversy all reasona- 
ble ground 'of complaint on her part would have hem removed, 
at least, if she bad in ber sovereign capacity engaged in the con- 
-In- must have been concluded by the resold If she 
had mismanaged ber concerns that could never hove been 
ilecause of complaint against the United 
States. Maine at ibevres in ■ state of profound ignorance had 
uo opportunity to aid or assist the I ailed States nor does she 
claim that the baa i light to interfere in the course its government 
chooses to adopt, but she baathi right of s e e ding tin constitution 
of the liuied St it. i of judging for bersfll and if Sh>- is dept 
ofthe exercise ufher lovereignt) and bet property^ she has a 
right lo remonstrate and :i--i il her riuhts, and by force oftbe 
original COCap id she is entitled to the aid and ! th e 

independent sovereignties constituting the United States, to rein 

bet hi U*M of which she has been deprived, b\ an anjittt »nH 
nilCOUstitution.il | \ 



56 

The promptness, decision, perseverance and ability with 
which the Governor has executed the request contained in the 
last resolve, merits the encomiums and approbation of the 
State. If further comment were necessary, the fact that all 
the information which had been so long, but unsuccessfully 
sought, was obtained, speaks a language more satisfactory to 
him and the State, than any tiling we could add. As to the 
positions taken and maintained by the Governor, they must be 
in accordance with the views and common sense of the State, 
and we cannot present his discussions in a clearer or more ac- 
ceptable light, than to request a fair, candid and impartial ex- 
amination of them. With the ; e remarks and without further 
comment, the correspondence between him and the govern- 
ment of the United States is annexed. 

Thus we have detailed at some length, the principal facts 
and circumstances touching the title and the extent of the ti- 
tle of the State to territory and jurisdiction, from which it 
appears, that our title is perfect to all the territory bounded, 
by the southern line of the province of Lower Canada, to wit 
by the line drawn, from the head of Connecticut river, along 
the lands, which limit the sources of the rivers, that fall into 
the river St. Lawrence, to the head of the bay of Chalenrs, 
and westward of the line drawn due north from the source of 
the river St Croix to that line, being the line described and 
adopted by the British Government long before the revolution 
and being the lines which are also described and adopted by 
the provisional, and definitive treaties of peace. — That the 
British government have alwavs, directly and indirectly con- 
ceded our title, in all the negotiations and discussions on the 
subject prior to the discussions under t he fifth article of the 
treaty of Ghent, and made no claim of title founded on any 
intrusion of theirs, the ministers, who sought it as a cession, 
not having urged or even stated the fact, except bv way of al- 
lusion, and that Massachusetts and Maine have always exer- 
cised jurisdiction according to the title of Maine and have con- 
tinued their progress of surveys, sales and settlements, and 
other acts, and that the United States have always exercised 
general jurisdiction and did in 1820 exercise acts of jurisdic- 
tion as far as there was any occasion for it : — That there was 
no reason, from any knowledge in possession of the United 
States, until very recently, and still more recently in posses- 
sion of this State, more immediately interested, to suppose, 
that, if the British Government had crossed the above describ- 
ed lines, she would not, as soon as the lines were surveyed, 
withdraw and cease to commit like acts of intrusion ; and it 
has also appeared from representations made by the British 
Minister to the Secretary of State, " that the Lieutenant Gov- 



ernor of New Brunswick bad given assurances thai he wotiW 
cautiously abstain h. m .ill actsci mthoiit) which could invite 

encroai bin nts at easura "i n aliation. 

But notwithstanding all these fact* i ircuuistancef and assur- 
ances, John Baker .1 ciiixen ef the State "I Maine and ; i 
l uited States was arrested iu bU own dwelling bouse, situated 
on the laud he purchased of, and hold* bj the deed from Mas- 
sachusetts and Maine, on .1 warraul and othei process served 
ti\ the Sheriff of the county of York, acci nipauied bj armed 
men and in the nighl time, al b efore Baker had rit-en 

from lii- bed, and was carried t" rVederickton and thrown in- 
i. prison where he is now confined P eshavealso een 

-1 red, within our territory, on the Oi si k, and tin 
and pYoperl) of our citizens havi •• en awaj bj the 

civil officers of New Brunswick. Baker i- charged among 
1 a 1 ii< 'ii.: other things, with an intrusion and trespass on the pre- 
mises \e holds under Massachux rl Maine. 

When the Governoj of this S eived notice that 

> the f • the v 1 ti»e ofl ■ ei "t the 1*0- ei nineul 

of New Brunswick, i i n • t been violated, in the abduction and 
imprisonment "f "n<- ol its • itizens and other acts ' e i ed 
his proclamation, and commissioned an a ent of the S < 
proceed to) ince of New I' unswick, 

the cause «>f the arrest and t lie <''!irr violations <-\ the S :«■ 

I of the Government of New Bru •- 

wick the restoration of Bakei . .ill which \\i\\ more fully 
appear in the documeots annexed. Thr Governor has in I 
with his usual promptness, discretion and ability performed 
h\> duty to the State and it- citizens. The agenl in prose< u- 
tion of the object "l lii- commission proceeded to Frederick- 
ton the capitol of New Brunswick, and notified the govern- 
ment of his arrival and official capacity. He was not received 
in lii- official capacity, from what cau e thai arose, whether 
from their own policy or their misconstruction of the power 
and authority of the Governor of this State, is 1 »< »t certain for 
ii seems t* n> there would have been no objection t<> the re- 
cognition of the agent ol tlii- State, bad bis commission been 
onn to demand a fugitive from justice, or that the Governor 
ol New Brunswick would consider, thai he wras Uanscending 
his power, were he to send an .i-eui t.> 1 Ii 1- m.ii<- to demand .1 
fugitive from his own government Notwithstanding In* wai 
not received in an official character, we are happy to have it 
in our power to aay, that he was |»olitely received bj the jen- 
tlemen of the plai •■■ The object of lii- agency, therefore, so 
- it related to the arrest and imprisonment of Baker, to- 
tally failed is it did also in dmuh othei roapect Iftei 1 1 1 \ i u •_' 
refused lo receive him ia .1 public capacity, 'In-, might well 
6 



58 

have favored liis enquiries as a private gentlemen, and per- 
mitted him to have seen their papers and documents of a 
public character, such as the commission to Governor Carlton 
tiit- first Governor of New Brunswick, and grants which they 
say they have made. Any private private gentleman from the 
province not even coming under the sanction of the local gov- 
ernment, would in this State he permitted to enter any of our 
public offices and to have copies made out by the proper offi- 
cer, fanj of our public papers or documents. When a course 
so contrary to any thing which would have taken place here 
occurred, it leads us to infer that the public documents thus 
requested and withheld would if produced have increased the 
mass of evidence already before tiie public, shewing the futil- 
it; and ab urdity of their arguments and their claims. The 
maxim i ■ i kn n in law t hat no man is bound to produce 
evidence >st himself, and this appears, like a practical 

applicati . . of the same maxim in another department of the 
. eminent. 

From all the facts, we cannot perceive on what ground they 
can justify the violation of the State and National sovereignty 
in the arrest of Baker, on his own soil and freehold, which 
he holds in fee under the States of Massachusetts and Maine, 
and the other acts of their officers on the Aroostock. On t he 
ground of title they have no justification, and they can only 
justify themselves on the ground of a pos es-ion de facto, \\ hicli 
cannot h_\ the acknowledged principles of law be extended, 
beyond actual accupation. In the case of Baker the settlement 
on his lot was commenced not within even a possession de facto, 

c and slender as that would he ; and in i elation to tiie 
Oroostook there is not even a possession of any kind, un- 
less it has been acquired by the lawless depredations of indi- 

tls for which they have, from time to time, atoned by 
settlements with the agents of the State of Maine. Even the 
few, who have settled on the Aroostook, fettled there consid- 
it to be within this State and intending also to settle out 
i! i he province of New Brunswick. The course pursued by 
th British must be accounted for on another principle, than 
' -■! cautious abstinance of the exercise of authority which 

1 invite encroachments as a measure of retaliation." 
When tiie British are thus attempting to extend their intru- 
sion and imprisoning and otherwise harrassing by Ieijal process 
citizens of Maine, tliev have constitutional claims on her pro- 
tection, and although Massachusetts and Maine from the treaty 
of peace have exercised the same jurisdiction overall the wild 
lands which had not been particularly appropriated for culti- 
vation to this time ; if such acts are repeated it cannot be ex- 
pected that Maine will be a quiet spectator. It will be her 



69 

lo enforce bei law* within her own jurisdiction, and to 

led liei • w 1 1 rights and the rights of her citizens. 

I' li«- t •• sen ment of the United States have .1 duty to |>cr- 

1 towards the States and it« citisena, not less towards tlmie 

are forcibly taken from the territory, and imprisoned, 

1 lowardii those who are taken from the national marine. 

1 is understood an. agent has been >ent to the province of 

- v-Brunswiek who bai returned, and we have a confidence 

the whole bu inest will be adjusted, and tli.a the con- 

itional rights of the State and the liberties and rights 

be citiaens will be protected and presen ed. 

Vow rommittee impressed with the importance of the subject 

tothk State 1 id 1 In- 1 uited States, and approving most cor- 

lv, of the measures taken b) the Governor, believe from 

1 past that I S tas 1 well founded assurance that its 

, eats >mI1 be protected ami it* constitutional rights 

set \ id. 

J(tll\ L MEGQUIER. 
REI EL WILLIAMS. 

.in 3 11 \ u 11 \rn \u\i. 

JOHN G DEANE. 
l,,.\l;\ w PULLER. 

w II. 1. 1 Wl V \\< K 
JOSHU V ( Mil'I.N TKll. 
Ki PUS Bl ftNHAM, 

Ml which with the annexed Resolve and Documents is re- 
spectfully submitted by Order of the Committee, 

JOHN G. DEANE. 
rsssMt •/ Rsprsarnlonaes, Jan. -G, 1828. 



I 



VIM»i:\B)l\. 



XO. I. 

in Extract from the grant ' . . s •'< Uiam Mai 

d(r, (afltru-nrtli I. S 5 'ir 10, 1681. 

Wi do by these present! mvey i" th< 

iir William Alexander hi > heirs and :i--i-'ii~, nil and lingular the 
kndaup m the Continent, and the I lituale, lying, and being 

ii Aint'iiiM, within ilio head or pro oraonly called 

'ape Sable, in the latitude of forty-din nearly or 

hereabout*, from tli.it proraeol itretching 

.i tfc the baj commonl) called St Mary's Bay, thence 

•b the north by a direct line crossing the entrance or mouth ot 
the great bay, which extend I rd, between the countries of 

the Siroqnois ami Etcbemins, so commonly called, to the river 
commonly called by the name of the Holy Cross, or the Saint 
Croix, and to the furthest sourr.e or soring, upon the western 
branch of the same, which first mingli 9 it* waters with those ol 
river; thence by an imaginary direct line, to be drawn 
or run through the country, or i I mJ, to the north, to the 

. river or spring emptyi I river of 

Canada; and from thence running to the East, along the shores 
of the said rii oada, to the river, baj or harbor common- 

ly called and known by the nan ' 'icpe or Gaspee, and 

from thence southeast to th( I i died Baccalao* or Cape 

Breton, i I Is upon the right, and the Gulph 

of the said ri\< r or bay of Can ida and Newfoundland, with tbe 
Islands thereunto belonging, upon the left ; and from thence to 
the head or promontory of C Brel lj il>g near the 

latitude of forty-five degrees or thereabouts, and from the said 
promontorv ..i Cape Breton, to tl ird and westward 

to Cape S . toe place of beginning, including 

and comprehending within the mid coasts and shores ol the 
and the circomfereno '■• * c a. al ' ■'"' 

lands upon the Continent, with the river*, torrents bays, sliores, 
ing mar to, 01 wil ■' any part 

thereof, on the weatern, northern, or eastern parts of the said 

oasts and precincts of ' '■•" 

- lies, 



all the seas and islands, to the south, within forty leagues of the 
said shores, including the great island commonly called the Isle 
of Sahle or Sablon, lying south-south-east in the ocean, about 
thirty leagues from Cape Breton aforesaid, and being in the lati- 
tude of forty-four degrees, or thereabouts. 

All which lands aforesaid, shall at all times hereafter be called 
and known by the name of Nova Scotia or New Scotland, in 
America. And if any questions or doubts shall hereafter arise 
upon the interpretation or construction of any clause in the pres- 
ent letters patent contained, they shall all be taken and interpre- 
ted in the most extensive sense, and in favor of the said Sir Wil- 
liam Alexander, his heirs and assigns aforesaid. Moreover, we, 
of our certain knowledge, our own proper motion, regal authori- 
ty, and royal power, have made, united, annexed, erected, creat- 
ed and incorporated, and we do, by these our letters patent, 
make, unite, annex, erect, create, and incorporate the whole and 
entire province and lands of Nova Scotia aforesaid, with all the 
limits thereof, seas, Sic. ; officers and jurisdictions, and all other 
things generally and specially abovcmentioned, into one entire 
and free dominion and barony, to be called at all times hereafter 
by the aforesaid name of Nova Scotia. 



IVO. 2. 

Extract from the grant of Charles the 2d, to James, Duke of 
York, dated 12th of March, 1663. 

Know ye that we, for divers good causes, Sic. have, Sic. and 
by these presents, Sic. do give and grant unto our dearest broth- 
er, James, duke of York, his heirs and assigns, all that part of the 
main land of New England, beginning at a certain place, called 
or known by the name of St. Croix, next adjoining to New Scot- 
land, in America ; and from thence extending along the sea 
coast unto a certain place called Pemaquie or Pemaquid, and so 
up the river thereof, to the farthest head of the same as it teud- 
eth northward ; and extending from thence to the river Kimbe- 
quin, and so upwards, by the shortest course to the river of Can- 
ada, northward. And also all that island or islands commonly 
called by the several name or names of Matowacks or Long Isl- 
and, situate, lying and being towards the west of Cape Cod and 
the Narrow Higansets, abutting upon the main land between the 
two rivers, there called or known by the several names of Con- 
necticut and Hudson's river ; together, also, with the said river, 



called Hudson's river, and all the landi from ibe wetl >ide ofCtav 
BMtioui river, la the east lids of Delaware bayi Ami also all 

ih r.il islands, railed or known by thenamei i 1 Martin's 

Vineyard, and Nantukes, or otbt Nantucket. 



NO. 3. 

/. tract from the Chart P of the MauachxuetU lay, 

in H I gland, dated 1th Oct. U William tf Mary. 

William ami Mary, by tli G •■ King ami Queen ol 

England, Scotland, Prance, ami Ireland, defender! of the faith, 
> all i<> whom ibese pi ill come, Greeting: vV« 

do bv these on wots, for us, our heirs, ami su "ill ami 

ordain, that the territories ami i olonies, commonly called or 
known by the names of the colony of the Massai busi in B ly ■ nil 
color N i Plymouth, the province of Maim-, ami the irrri- 
, called Acadia pr and all that tract of land. 

lying In i I territorii ofNoi & and (he said 

provinei ;; ereoted, united and incorporated ; and we 

do, bv these presents unite, erect, and incorporate the same in- 
to one real province, by the name of our province of the .Ma 
elm i New England; and of our especial grace, cer- 

tain kn »n I mere motion, we have given and granted, 

and by th resents, for ui . and iu< i give and 

grant, unto our good subjects, the inhabitants of our said prov- 
ince or frriior\ of M JT, and their M.ccessors, all 
tint pari England in \ nd extending from 
the Great R tonly called Monomark, Merrimack, 
on the north pan. ami from thn northward oftbesoid 
to die \x\ tie. or western wth part 
n ,„l ^1 t tever, lying within the 
Jimi! - i ' H the onti rmosl [mints or 
promontories ofl »nd called Capi < !od at ' ilabar, north 
and south, and in latitude-, breadth, and in ll Oglb, ami longitude, 
of and within all th ind ■■ ihrooghoat 
the main land there, from ibe said Atlantic or western sea and 
ocean, on the east part, towards the tooth aea, or ai 
: ; Island, Connecticut, and the Nara- 
ransett country ; and, also, all th I part and , ol Maine 
j m | ( begino n barbonr, and so to 
ma into the rii i \ richwaonock, and through 
ito the farthest head thereof, and from thence north- 



westward, till one hundred and twenty miles be finished, and from 
Piscataqua harbor mouth aforesaid, northeastward along the sea 
eoast to Sagadehock,* and from the period of one hundred and 
twenty miles aforesaid, to cross over land from Piscata- 
qua harbor, through Newichwannock river; and also the north 
half of the Isles of Shoals, together with the Isles ofCapawack 
and Nantuckett, near Cape Cod aforesaid ; and also the lands 
and hereditaments lying and being in the country or territory 
commonly called Acadie, or Nova Scotia, and all those lands 
and hereditaments lying and extending between the said country 
or territory of Nova Scotia, and the said river of Sagadehock, or 
any part thereof. 

That it shall and may be lawful for the said Governor. and 
general assembly to make or pass any grant of lands lying with- 
in the bounds of the colonies formerly called the colonies of the 
Massachusetts Bay, and New-Plymouth, and province of Maine, 
in mch manner as heretofore they might have done by virtue of 
any former charter or letters patent ; which grants of lands, with- 
in the bounds aforesaid we do hereby will and ordain to be and 
continue forever of lull force and effect, without our further ap- 
probation or consent. And so as nevertheless, and it is our roy- 
al will and pleasure, that no grant or grants of any lands lying 
or extending from the river of Sagadehock to the gulf of St. 
Lawrence and Canada rivers, and to the main sea northward and 
eastward, to be made or past by the Governor and general as- 
sembly of our said province, be of any force, validity, or effect, 
until we, our heirs, or successors, shall have signified our appro- 
bation of the =ame. 



NO. 4. 

fopy of Col, Phillip])! 1 Commission for the Government of 
A boa Scotia — 1719. 
George by the Grace of God Sec. — To our trusty and well be- 
loved Richard Phillipps, Esq. Greeting : 
Know ye that we reposing especial Trust and confidence iu the 

•The following words, vjz. " \nd up the river thereof to the Knjbecky 
river, and through the same to the head thereof, and unto the land 'north- 
westward, until one hundred and twentj miles be ended, being accounted 
1'rora the month Of Sagadehock," as inserted in Gorge's grants (from which 
tho-descriptivc part of the boundaries of Maine in this charter is taken,) ap- 
pear to have been inadvertently omitted, being necessary to render those 
boundaries intelligibh ; aud should follow the word Sagadehock, to whicU 
the asterisk i* aflfi 



■ < 

prudcure, coimer, and loyalt) ol you llic said Richard Phil- 
lipps, out of our especial grace, certain knowledge, eodaeera 

■null >t>. bam thought lit to eowtitnte and appoint, and by these 
presents <!.> constitute and appoint yon ike said Elicbard Pbilh'ppe, 
to be our Governor of Placentia in Newfoundland ; ami our Cap- 
tain General and Gorernor in chief in and over our province of 
\tn S r Acadie in America : and we do hereby require 

and command you Ifl i!" and execute all things in due manner 
that shall belong nolo your said command, and the tru>t we 
bavi reposed in you, according to the several powers and di- 
ms granted or appointed you by this present Commission, 
and the instructions herewith given you, or by such further pow- 
UCtions, or authorities as shall at any lime hereafter be 
"ranted or ap u, under our signet and sign manual or 

l>\ our order in our Privy Council, and according to such rea- 
sonable Laws and Statutes, as shall hereafter be made and as- 
• ! to by yon, with the advice and consent of our Council 
and assembly of our said Province, hereafter to be appointed. 

And for the better Administration of Justice and manage- 
ment of the Public affairs of our said Province, We hereby give 
and grant unto you the said Kirhard Phillipps full power and 
authority to choose, nominate, and appoint such fitting and dis- 
I persons as you shall either find there or carry along with 
you, not exceeding the number of twelve to be of our Council in 
our said Province, till our further pleasure be known, any Free 
whereof we do hereby appoint to be a Quorum. ■■ 



1 1 Wght of a commission for the Hon. Col. Cormoaffii to be 
Governor of N< i Scol i — April 29, 1749. 

the second by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, 
Prance and Ireland King, I » lender of the faith, k.c. To our 
Trastj indwell beloved The Hon. Edward Cornwallis Esq. 
Greeting. Whereas we did by oor Letters Patent under our 
Gn at Seal of Great Britain bearing date st Westminister tha 
II th day of Septcn.lier in the second year of our Reign con- 
stitute and appoint Richard Phillipps Esq. our Captain General 
G ernor in Chi' fin and over our Province ofNova Seo- 
I tdie in America with all Rights Members and Appur- 
tenances whatever thereunto belonging for, and during our will 
and Pleasure, a* by the said recited Lett • Patent relation l><*- 



6 

nig thereunto had, may more fully and at large appear : Now 
know you that We have revoked and determined, and by these 
presents, do revoke and determine, the said recited Letters Pa- 
tent and every clause, article and thing therein contained ; and 
further know you, that We, reposing especial Trust and confi- 
dence in the prudence, Courage and Loyalty of you the said Ed- 
ward Cornwallis, of our especial Grace, certain knowledge, and 
mere motion, have thought fit to constitute and appoint, and by 
these presents do Constitute and appoint you the said Richard 
Cornwallis to be our Captian General and Governor in Chief in 
and over the Province of Nova Scotia or Acadie in America, with 
all the Rights, members and appurtenances whatever thereunto 
belonging. 

18th March 1752. The Commission given to Peregrine 
Thomas Hopson, as Governor of the Proviuce of Nova Scotia is 
the same, mutatis mutandis, as that given to Edward Cornwallis 
Esq. 



NO 6. 

Extract from the Proclamation of the King of Great Britain, of 

the 1th oj October, 1763, establishing four governments. 

BY THE KING, A PROCLAMATION. 

George R. 

Whereas we have taken into our royal consideration the ex- 
tensive and valuable acquisitions in America, secured to our 
Crown, by the late definitive treaty of peace, concluded at Paris 
the 10th day of February last; and being desirous that all our 
loving subjects, as well of our kingdoms, as of our colonies in 
America, may avail themselves, with all convenient speed, of the 
^reat benefits and advantages which must accrue therefrom to 
Their commerce, manufactures, and navigation ; we have thought 
fit, with the advice of our privy council, to issue this our royal 
proclamation, hereby to publish and declare to all our loving sub- 
jects, that we have, with the advice of our said privy council, 
o-ianted our letters patent under our great seal of Great Britain, 
to erect within the countries and islands, ceded and confirmed 
to us by the said treaty, four distinct and separate governments, 
styled and called by the names of Quebec, East Florida, West 
Florida, and Grenada, and limited and bounded as follows, viz. 

First, the government of Quebec, bounded on the Labrador 
coast by the river St. John, and from thence by a line drawn from 



ilie head of that river, throogh ihe lake St. John, to the south 
ciul of Ibe lil.' 1 Nipissim ; from thence the i lid line i ro ing 1 1 • * * 
river St. Lawrence end tin lu K»- Champlain in forty five de| 
at* north latitude, paiani tkutg the higUanit which divide the 
rirers that rmpty themselves int'< tht mid St. LawrttUt from 
those trhirh fall into the sea : tod also alone the north coast of 

the K I , and the coast of the Gulf of St L 

ipe Rosieres, and from thence, i rowing the mouth of the 
rivet St< L wrence, bj the west i i 'i of the island of Amieosti, 
terminate* at the aforesaid rii r 9 John. 

Representation to ho. with the draught of a commie- 

hoo for Charles L i I Governor N i Sco- 

tia. 

To the King' M t Excellent 1M ty. 

May it please 1 n M ijt Ay. 
In obedience to your M ; ty's Order in Council, dated the 
l^-th inst are have prepared the draught of a commission for 
Charlc> Lawrence, Esq. to be Cap'.ian General and Governor 
in chief of your Majesty's Province of Nova Scotia, in Ameri- 
ca, which being in the usual form, we herewith humbly lay it be- 
fore your Majesty, and shall prepare the necessary instructions 
for him with all possible dispatch. 
Which is most humblv submitted. 

(signed) I'l \k II sLIFAX, 
J. PUT, 

.! sMES <»\\ \I.D. 
ANDREW STONE. 

Whitehall, Dec. 18, 1 "3 



SO. 7. 

G erstoT EOWt Commission, .Ipril 1, 1761. 

orge the third by tlie Grace of Gon, of Great Britain, 
France and Inland. Ki .1' nder of the Faith, Sic. To our 
Trusty and well beloved Henry E I- Gri ting. Whet 
our late Royal Grandfather of blessed memory, did by his Let- 
ters Patent under the Great S.;.il of Great Britain bearing 
it Westminster the of in the : II 

i, constitute and appoint Charles Li , Esq. Captain 

i nor in Chief, in and over our Province of 

Nova Scotia oi v \ i, with all theKights, Members 



ami appurtenances whatever thereunto belonging for and during 
His late Majesty's Will and Pleasure, as by the said recited Let- 
ters Patent, relation being thereunto had, may more fully and at 
large appear : Now know you that We have revoked and deter- 
mined, and by these Presents, do revoke and determine, the said 
recited Letters Patent, and every clause, article and thing there- 
in contained, and further know you that We, reposing especial 
Trust and confidence in the Prudence, Courage and Loyalty of 
you the said Henry Ellis, Esq. of our Especial Grace, certain 
knowledge and mere motion, have thought fit to constitute and 
appoint and by these presents do constitute and appoint you the 
said Henry Ellis to be our Captain General and Governor in 
Chief, in and over our Province of Nova Scotia or Acadie in 
America, with all the Rights, Members and appurtenances what- 
ever thereunto belonging. 



NO. 8. 

Draught of a Commission for Montague Wihnot, Esq. to he Gov- 
ernor of Nova Scotia, dated October, 1763. 

George the third by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, 
France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith $-c. To our 
Trusty and well beloved Montague Wilmot, Esq. Greeting. — 
Whereas we did by our Letters Patent under the Great Seal cf 
Great Britain dated at Westminster the day of 

in the first year of our Reign, constitute and appoint Henry El- 
lis, Esq. Captain General and Governor in Chief, in and over our 
Province of Nova Scotia or Acadie in America, with all the 
Rights, Members and Appurtenances thereunto belonging for 
and during our will and pleasure, as by the said recited Letters 
Patent, relation being thereunto had, may more fully and at large 
appear: Now know you that we have revoked and determined 
and by thesePresents do revoke and determine the said recited 
Letters Patent and every clause, article and thing therein con- 
tained. 

And further know you, that We, reposing especial Trnst and 
confidence in the Prudence, Courage and Loyalty of you the 
said Montague Wilmot, of our especial Grace, certain knowledge 
and mere motion, have thought fit to constitute and appoint, and 
by these Presents, We do constitute and appoint ybti, the said 
Montague Wilmot to be our Captain General and Governor in 



!> 

Chief in and over our Province of .Nova Scotia, hounded on the 
W i tward l»v :i line drawn fron Cape Sable across the entrance 
of the Hay oi I 'nn.lv, to ili" in.iiuli of the river St. Croix, l»y the 
said river to its source end by ;i line drawn due North been 
ihence 10 the Sonihern Boundary of Our Province ol Quebec, to 
the Northward be the same bonndary as far as the Western ex- 
tremity of the Biyn dei Ch To theEeatward hy the said 
Hav ami the Gulpli of St. Lawrence to the cape or promontory 
called Cane Breton, in the Inland of the MOM name, including 
that Island, the bland of St. Johns, and all oilier lsl.inils within 

six Leageee oftbe coast, and to the aoothward by the Atlantic 
Ocean frees said Cape to Cape Sable aforesaid, including the Isl- 
ntid of that name and all ether Isleodl within forty Leagues of 
the met, with all the Rights, Members and appurtenances whit- 
r thereunto belonging. 



no. ». 

Goeeraor I^rgges' Ceeunasrion. 

George the third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France 
and Ireland, Kiug. Defender of the Fnith, fee. — To our trusty 
and well beloved French Legge, Es«j. GaKKTiira : 
Whereas, we did, by our letters patent, under our great seal 
of Gnat Britain, bearing date at Wettmbstef, the eleventh day 
of Aucust. in the aixth year of our reign — constitute and appoint 
William Campbell, Esq. commonly called Lord William Camp- 
bell, Captain General and Governor in Chief, in and over our 
Province of Nova Scotia, in America, bounded on the westward 
bi a tine drawn from Cape Sable across the entrance of the bar 
of Fundy.to the mouth of the river St. Ci id river to its 

source, and by a line drawn due north from thence to the south- 
ern boimdarv"of our Colony of Quebec. To the northward by 
the said boundary, as far as the western extremity of the baye dos 
Chaleurs. To the eastward by the said bay and the Gulph of 
St. Lawrence, to the cape or promontory called Cape Breton, in 
the island of that name, including thai island, the island of Saint 
John, and all other islands within sis leagues of the coast; and 
to the southward bv the Atlantic Ocean, from the said Cape to 
Cape Sable aforesaid, including the island of that name, and all 
other ialands within forty leagues of the coast, with all the rights, 
member.- and apportei I aisocver, thereunto belonging 

1 



JO 



for and during our will and pleasure, as by I lie said recited fet- 
ters patent, relation being thereunto had, ma}' more fully and at 
large appear ; now, know you, that we have revoked and deter- 
mined, and by these presents do revoke and determine, the said 
recited letters patent, and every clause, article and thing therein 
contained, and further, Know you that We, reposing especial con- 
fidence and trust in the prudence, courage and loyalty of you, 
the said Francis Legge, of our especial grace, certain knowledge 
and mere motion, We have thought fit to constitute and appoint 
you, the said Francis Legge, to be our Captain General and Gov- 
ernor in Chief of our said paovince of Nova Scotia, bounded on 
the westward by a line drawn from Cape Sable across the entrance 
of the Bay of Fundy, to the mouth of the river St. Croix, by the 
said river to its source, and by a line drawn due north from 
thence to the southern boundary of our colony of Quebec : To 
the northward by the said boundary, as far as the western ex- 
tremity of the Bay des Chaleurs. To the Eastward, by the said 
Bay. and the Gulph of St. Lawrence, to the cape or promonto- 
ry — called Cape Breton, in the island of that name including that 
island and all other islands within six leagues of the coast, except- 
ing our said Island of St. John, which we have thought fit to erect 
into a separate government ; and to the southward by the Atlan- 
tic Ocean, from the said Cape to Cape Sable aforesaid, includ- 
ing the island of that name, and all other islands within forty 
leagues of the. coast. With all the rights, members and appurte- 
nances whatsoever, thereunto belonging. 

And we do hereby require and command you to do and execute 
all things in due manner, that shall belong unto your said com- 
mand, and the trust we have reposed in you according to the 
several powers and authorities granted or appointed you by the 
present Commission, and the instructions herewith given you or 
by such further powers, instructions and authorities, as shall at 
any time hereafter be granted or appointed you under our signet 
and Sign Manual, or by our order in our Privy Council, and ac- 
cording to such reasonable Laws and Statutes as are now in 
force, or shall hereafter bemads or agreed upon by you, with 
the advice and consent of our Council, and the assembly of our 
said Province under your Government, in such manner and form 
?s i«: hereafter expressed. 



1 1 
\o. 10. 

Th, art oftht It ll ': /' it of the I : • Jo*. 

1774) relating to the j ' '.«: 

'I'd a all the ! ' forth Ar 

Bern -uigio the Crowa of G m die 

south In .1 hoe from th B i i hnleui tin highlands 

which divide the rivers which empty tbei iota the river 

St. I tan react from those w hick fall into the se i ; to a point in the 
46th degree of North Latitu b of the run 

( lonnecticat, keeping the s ime latitude directl) nest through Lake 
Cbamplaia, until in the iara it -■■ Law- 

. from thence up ill I . rn b ink of said river to Lake ( to- 
tario, iheoee through tin Lake On ind the river commonly 

■. ^ ill. in •■ along by the ensteru and south eastern 
hank ofL I (following tin said bank until the same shall 
be in) I by the Northern boundary granted b) the Charter 

of the Province of Peuosj Ivania 1 1 case the same shall be to inter- 

I, anil from thence along the vim! North and West bounder 
rj of the said Province, until the said western boundary strikes 
the Ohio ; bul in case the said Bank of said Lake sh ill not be 
I'ouiul to be to intersected, then following the r ml bank until it 
shall arri'. r ill that point ol 'l bank which shall he nearest 

to the Northv I Pennsylvania, 

and thence In a i the said northwest angle ol 

. and tin'.: the western boundary of said Prov- 

ince until it stiikis the I along the bank of the said riv- 

al to the bank of the Mississippi, and .\urili to the 
southern boundary of the lerritorj granted to the .Merchants ad- 
venturers of Eogland ti H Buy ; and also all sRch 
lerriti I inds and Countries which hue since the tenth day 
of Februsrj 1763 been made part pf the Government of N 
found land, be and iring Hi jr's pleat" 
urc, annexed to and mule a part of the Province of Qui b< c, as 
creeled tad established by the said Royal Pro lamation of the 

7lh of Octobl 



NO. 1 1 . 

Bri the B tith agent* tht commie- 

sioners under I utu, com 

natig •ichtded between ti ' lirit- 
I. V 

In the 17C. S \ in Act to n 'rain 



12 

the Trade and Commerce of the province of Massachusetts-bav 
and New-Hampshire, and Colonies of Connecticut, and Rhode 
Island and Providence plantations in North America, to Great 
Britain, Ireland and the British Islands in the West Indies, and to 
prohibit such Provinces and Colonies from carrying on anv fish- 
ing on the banks of Newfoundland or other places therein men- 
i oned, under certain conditions and limitations.' They sav, it 
is provided and enacted ' that the River which emptielh itself 
into Passamacadie or Passamaquaddy-bay on the western side, 
and is commonly called or known by the name of St. Croix Riv- 
er be held and deemed for all the purposes in this act contained 
to be the boundary line between the Provinces of Massachu- 
setts-bay and Nova Scoiia. 

This act creates no new boundary, it merely recognizes, con- 
firms and establishes the River St. Croix as a boundary be- 
tween the Provinces of Nov? Scotia in the patent to Sir William 
Alexander in 1621 ; which was agreed upon, settled known and 
acknowledged, as the boundary between the Province of Nova 
Scotia and the territory of New England, granted to the coun- 
cil of Plymouth in the year 1620, which after the surrender of 
their Grand Charter was the boundary between Nova Scotia and 
the territory granted to the Duke of York in 1664, which was 
recognized as the western boundary of Nova Scotiibythe char- 
ter of William and Mary to the Province of Massachusetts-bay 
in 1691, and which from the treaty of Utrecht in 1713 was the 
boundary between the Provinces of Massachusetts-bav and No- 
va Scotia, received and established by the Crown, and known, 
acknowledged and acquiesced in by the Government oi' Mas- 
sachusetts-bay. 

That from the time of the passing of this act of Parliament 
in 1774, the boundaries of the Province Nova Scotia remained 
unaltered to the treaty of peace in 1783 will not, it is presumed, 
be denied. And it will not be difficult now to show that the 
River Scoudiac, under the name of the River Saint Croix form- 
ed a part of the boundary described in that treat)-. 

It is sufficient here to observe, that at the time the treaty of 
Peace was made in 17S3, the Provinces of Quebec and Nova 
Scotia belonged to and were in the possession of the Crown of 
Great Britain, and that his Britannic Majesty at that time 
had an undoubted right to cede to the United States of A- 
merica such part of these territories as he might think fit, and 
that in making the cession of the territory comprised within the 
boundaries of the United States as described hi the second ar- 
ticle of the treaty of pi*.ice, his Majesty must be supposed to 



i a 

have used ili>- KnM de* ribing these bostadarii - m the 
which ilu-v bad been uuilbrinly understood intbc British Nation, 
and recognised io public documents and i lament 

In ibis sense, sad in no other, could the* hove then been under* 

stood, or can tlx-v now be ilaimtd or insisted UDOO bj tlie I ni- 
ted Slates. In ink ind in no other, la bii Maji sty bound 
to give the possession. W batever river m 01 that tunc known and 
recognized hv bit Majest) and the British Government as the 
River St. Croix, forming a boundary beitveoo use prewineeof 
Maoanohoaouo>boy ood Nov 9 thai River, aad no other, 

can now be claimed AS O |»ait of the Eastern boundary <>l the 
United States. It is anfficiem that inthi- act of Parliament the 
River Saint Croix ■ described bj a particular location and 
boundaries which cannot ba mistaken, kniiun to both parties at 
the lime, and laseased Io on the pan of the I nh Bi by their 
accepting the tot and not giving any local dosignatioa "I the 
River which they now claim, or of any other river than thai 
thus ascertained by precise description, and known b\ them t«> 

have been SSI ibhshcd and at the lime contemplated by Cn;it 
Britain as the boundary between the previnc 

If this principle were once departed from, there would be no 
check to construction on the subject, ihoii-h it would be fortu- 
nate to his Mswasty's interests if be wt re not thus bound, as it 
might be clearly shown in that case that the River Penobscot, 
once iiidi>criuiiuai'dy with Otboi K • upon llii- cmst called 

the St. Croix, was the true boundary, by which Nova Scoti 
Acadie was ceded loins .Majesty by the treaty of I "tieclil. and 
ought in such case, by the principles of the law of Nations to be 
established ns the La-tern bounder) of ihe I nited Stab) J. 

But the words in ihe twelfth section of the Ad of Parliament 
above recited do not in any wise rt late to, or suppose any 
listing doubts about the locality or identity of the Rivet called 
or known bv the name of the Si. Crofal River, but have refer- 
ence, as has been fully shown to the ancient limit- ol the Province 
.1 Nan | >■ tia as e*lablished by the original grant of it 10 Sir 
William Alexander from King Jinn- thr first, in the y. If 1691, 
recognized in all subsequent public documents and Iran- actions 

relating thereto, and claimed by the Province of Maiaecbusctts- 

bav as their Eastern boundary under the Charter of King Wil- 
liam and Qaoea Mary ill 1691. 

s: v i it \ i i . a 
The most accustomed and convenient rule in cases el this 
kind is io leave to each power respective)* tfa ol tlwse 



14 

Rivers that empty themselves, or whose mouths are within its 
Territory upon the Sea Coast, if it can be done consistently 
with, or in conformity with the intent of the treaty. If it can 
be shewn that this rule in the present case, can be adopted con- 
sistently with what has been shown to be the intent of the treaty, 
it will form an unanswerable argument in favor of a compliance 
with the rule, more especially if a different construction will in- 
volve the inconveniences intended to be avoided by so just a 
principle of interpretation. 

Let us in this view attend to the words made use of in the 
Treaty describing the first station or boundary from which all 
the other boundaries of the United States are to be traced, vii. 
From the Northwest angle of Nova Scotia, viz, That angle 
which is formed by a line drawn due north, from the source of 
St. Croix River to the highlands, which divide those Rivers that 
empty themselves into the River St. Lawrence, from those 
which fall into the Atlantic Ocean. It appears from a map ac- 
tually compiled in most instances from actual surveys, an au- 
thentic copy of which is now before the Board, that a line 
drawn due north from the source of the Cheputnatecook River, 
or northern branch of the River Scoudiac or St. Croix will not 
intersect the highlands here described, but will intersect the Riv- 
er Restigouche, which empties itself into the bay of Chaleurs, 
which falls into the Gulpli of St. Lawrence, and will also inter- 
sect the Mctabediac Lake which is the head or source of a Riv- 
er likewise falling into the bay of Chaleurs. In addition there- 
fore to the argument drawn from the inconvenience resulting from 
its cutting off the sources of these Rivers, which discharge 
themselves within the British territory upon the sea coast ; the 
source of this branch of the Scoudiac or St. Croix, cannot be 
the source intended by the treaty of peace, because in such case 
we cannot arrive at the Northwest angle of Nova Scotia, which 
is the first bound or station upon which the other boundaries de- 
pend, as they must be traced from thence, that is to say ' that 
angle which is found by a line drawn due north from the source 
of St. Croix River to the highlands which divide those rivers that 
empty themselves into the river St Lawrence from those which 
fall into the Atlantic Ocean.' For, if the fact be as above stated, 
should a line be traced due north from the source of the Cheput- 
natecook, if the high lands in such case are on this side or to the 
southward of the river Restigouche, they will divide the rivers 
that fall into the Atlantic Ocean, or bay ofFundy, from these that 
fall into the Gulph of St. Lawrence ; if they are between the river 
Re3tia;onche and the Mctabediac lake ihov will divide the rivers 



which from different sources uniu Bnd fall i =1" the Gulph of St. 
Lawrence, if they i id ihii lake, thej will divide the riv< i 

which fall into the (lulyh <>f St /• which f:ill 

inio the river Si Lawrence ; therequu therefore will ool 

ind upon iliis lint-. But if a line is traced due north frees 
the tonrce of the western or main branch "l the river Scoudic or 
- t roi\, ii will run to the westward of lb of all the riv- 

ers that fall into the gulph of St. Lawrence and will strike the 
bighlandswhich divide the riven that fall into die Atlantic Ooeaa 
from those which empty themselves into the river St Laurence 
and eonsequentl) give the requisite angle or first bound. 

There is certainty a dear distinction in the Grant to Sir Win. 
Alexander between thi S int Lawrence and the Gulph of 

Saint Lawrence or rather of Canada ; the boundary line by this 
grant, after striking thai river ii to follow the course of it E tat- 
to G pie. which lies to the Northward of the bay of 
Chaleurs and afterwards the Gulph is mentioned] and the words 
nude use of in the Grant seem to import lance 

Eastward, between the line where it strikes the River of Canada 
or Saint Linn ace and Gaspec. 

It is far from being certain that the ridge of high lauds which 
divides the Rivers thai empty themselves into the river Si. 
Lawrence from those which fall into the Atlantic Ocean, is con- 
tinued 10 the Eastward of the sources of the Rivers which fall 
into the Gulph of St. Lawrence, but whether thus continued or 
not. the inference is clear from the foreg >iug (acta and reasoning 
that neither the Cin iputnatecook nor consequently the Magaguar 

davic or am other River wl • soon E ward of the source 

of the C'heputnatccook can be the River ut< nd< d under the name 
of the River St. Croix in the Treaty of p 

Hut to apply these facts to the point more immediately node* 
consideration, whet!. cr a line due north Iron) the source of the 
western or mam branch of the River Scoudiac or St. Croix, will 
leave to each of the parties to the treaty the sources of tlio.-e 
Rivers that empty themselves, or whose mouths are within il> 
territory upon the Sea Coast res; 

TLe effect - the United States is completely 

secured by the Treaty in all event-, and tbeuce we have further 
reason tosoppoeeit ».is intended to be reciprocal in this respect, 
if a just interpretation will warrant it. 

V line due north from the sourceof the western or main branch 
•f the Seliotidiac or St. Croix, will fully secure this effect to the 
United States in < very instance, and also to Great Britain in all 
I ept in that of the r S ' dm, when in \ 



16 

impossible by reason that the sources of this river are to the west- 
ward, not only of" the western boundary line of Nova Scotia, but 
■of the sources of the Penobscot and even of the Kennebec, so that 
this north line must of necessity cross the St. John, but it will 
cross it in a part of it almost at the foot of the highlands and 
where it ceases to be navigable. But if a north line is traced 
from the source of the Cheputnatecook, it will not only cross the 
river St. John, within about fifty miles from Frederickton, the 
metropolis of New Brunswick, but will cut off the sources of the 
livers which fall into the Bay of Chaleurs, if not of many others, 
probably of the Meramichi, among them which fall into the Gulf 
of St. Lawrence, and thereby be productive of inconvenient con- 
sequences to the two powers, if not of contention between them, 
instead of ' terminating sheir differences in such a manner, as 
maybe best calculated to produce mutual satisfaction and good 
understanding'' which is one of the principal and avowed objects 
of the Treaty. 

Had the treaty intended that this north line should intersect a 
number of rivers which empty their watersthrough a British prov- 
ince into the sea, a right of navigation or passage down those 
rivers would doubtless have been secured to the United States 
by the treaty. That this was not the intention of the treaty, not 
only appears from the facts and reasoning that have already been 
adduced, but from a further consideration, that in most, if not all 
the maps of the interior Country published before the year 1783 
although the Bourses of the river Saint Croix are very inaccurate- 
ly laid down, still it is very uniformly made to terminate in a 
lake near the eastern branch of the Penobscot, and a line drawn 
North from that termination upon those maps, will not intersect 
any of the rivers which empty themselves into the sea to the 
eastward of the mouth of the river Saint Croix except the river 
Saint Johns. This furnishes an unanswerable argument so far 
as any fair conclusions can be drawn from those maps in proof 
not only that the river Scoudiac, is the true ancient river Saint 
Croix and consequently intended by the Treaty ot Peace under 
the name of Saint Croix, but that its true source, is upon that 
western branch in a Lake, near to an eastern branch of the River 
Penobscot. 

If then there were any doubt remaining which is the true 
source of the River Saint Croix from which the line due north 
to the highlands is to be traced, the inconveniences above men- 
tioned would form the strongest argument, against a decision 
from which they would result, and in favor of that by which they 
will be avoided ; much more so when the latter decision will cor- 



IT 

respond with and be supported by so many other tficontesrjbh 
nts clearly establishing the River Scoudiac to 
the source of the western branch, io be the river Saint Croix 
truly intend. -d under lb it n um\ m t ,,! f ,, r ,„. 

in j a part of the boundary therein described; and toe North- 
angle of Nova S 'I in the lami Treat) to be 
formed I \ i line drawd due nortfa from that tooree to tin- high- 
leads described in the Treaty. 

Whether therefore we folio* the words of the grant to 9 i 
Willi im A . by which we most !>•■ at all et lad- 

ed ; or follow the main branch of the river retaining the sami 
Dime ; or ere governed by the uniform de< ision of geographers 
and historians of credit npon the subject, and the rules abd prist* 
ciples of the Lan ofNationi for the interpretation of 'I 

hall be red to the tame place n the source of the River from 

which the Line due north must be traced to the northwest angle 

- ■ a. 

Hut even it it Ind not been known at the time ofi ; to 

W \ tander thai this river bad two branches, and the 

i illy, to the farthest source ol 

iIil- river Saint Croix, still the main branch, or that retaining 

• it> month mast have been followed to its 

toorce, not onlj t" tatjsfj the irords of the grant, but to give it 

it- intended i n tructiou and operation. 

It I to have been the intention of the grant to 

i" le erected into the proi ini e of Nova 
River S tini Croil con] , line due 

north from its source to the I nada,and itisexpn 

ly pro jibe grant,contrar) to the general rules for the con- 

struction oflht l\ i ts that ifanj questions or doubts 

ft thereafti upon the interpretation or construction, of 

any clause contained in the grant, that they should all be taken 

and interpreted in the moat ei - •••■ reuse and in favour of 
S Wrli \ indi r. 
II tviog traced tin original h f the province of N 

a inree or spring of the river St. Ci 

upon r i branch thereof, and thereby fband the utn 

ern limits of tl Prot ce, it ri mains </u/y to -Ktcover s it 
m it Northern limits in order iu ascertain thi Afortkttttt a 

h of. 

The PrOVIMI i ' A S •: nt tin tin: I ■■l\j in 

>. ttati at ha* aireadtf appiared bounded to the northward 

l>y the southern hounilary province of Qateoec, H 

boundar) iltsbetl bt tin Royal rovxr&nniion of the 7tb 



18 

October, 176:3, and continued by the act of the 1 4th Geo. 3 C. 
83, passed in the same year with the act of parliament already 
eited, by which it is enacted that all the territories, islands and 
countries in North America, belonging to the Crown of Great 
Britain bounded on the South by a line from the bav of Chaleurs 
along the highlands which divide the rivers that empty them- 
selves into the River St. Lawrence, from those which fall into the 
sea to a point in forty five degrees of Northern latitude on the 
eastern bank of the River Connecticut, &c. be annexed to, and 
made a part and parcel of the Province of Quebec. 

As then at the Treaty of Peace in 1783, the northern limit 
of the Province of Nova Scotia, was " a line along the highlands 
■which divide the rivers that empty themselves into the river 
Saint Lawrence, from those which fall into the sea," ir unques- 
tionably follows, that the northwest, angle of Nova Scotia, at the 
time of the Treaty of Peace in 1783, was that angle which was 
formed by a line drawm due north from the source of the river 
Saint Croix to those highlands. If we now compare this angle 
with the northwest angle of Nova Scotia, described in the Trea- 
ty of Peace, viz : That angle which is formed by a line drawn 
due north from the source of Saint Croix river to the same high- 
lands, can it be said with any degree of propriety, that "the 
limits and boundaries of the province of Nova Scotia were un- 
known at the time of the treaty of peace in 1783, and that it 
therefore became necessary to give it a western boundary bv the 
treaty itself, in these words, to wit : that angle ichich is formed 
by a line due north from the source of the river Saint Croix lo 
the highlands ?" 

Can it be believed, or for a moment imagined, that in the 
course of human events, so exact a coincidence could have- hap- 
pened between the actual boundaries of the province of Nova 
Scotia and the boundaries of it described in this treaty, if the 
latter had not been dictated and regulated by the former ? 

Can any man hesitate to say he is convinced that the Com- 
missioners at Paris in 1783, in forming the 2d article of the trea- 
ty of peace, in which they have so exactly described this north- 
west angle, had reference to and were governed by the bounda- 
ries of Nova Scotia as described in the grant to Sir VVm. Alexan- 
der, and the subsequent alteration of the northern boundary bv 
the erection of the province of Qi ebec ? 

Will not this conviction become irresistible, when he adverts 
to the reservation made to his Majesty in this article of th^trea- 
ty, " of such Islands, as then were, or theretofore had been, 
within the limits of the said province of Nova Scotia, and to the. 



19 

i , id comprehended within those limit 

ied in the grant in Sir William Uexander, some of which 
might nai to the United Si lying within the 

limits ol 5 ues, Inn for the exception of them in the tre i- 

It u> no* compare the iresti rn boundaries ol the province 
of \ Scotia, to Sir William Alex tndi r, with the cor- 

responding eastern boundaries ol lh< I Sta \- the 

river S i lix is not included in the grant to Sir William Al- 
laii 1 by the agenl of the United States; and as 

it cfas not intended to be included, beca as bas been made 

to appear, tli - St. ( >i\ a is an agreed boundary betw 

the provii N iva S b) this grant, and the ter- 

ritory \ England, granted to the grand Council of Plym- 
outh, it follow - that the line of this grant t'> Sir William Alexan- 
der, must legal I j be construed to run through the middle ol the 
t not being assigned inclusively to either territory. 
Upon this principle theo, this part of the a nndaries 

of the provinci ol Nova Scotia, in the grant to Sir William U- 
rxander, nil! be a noith line, across the month of tht- H 
Fundy, to the river commonly railed by the name of tht 5 
Croix, and through the tame, to the farthest source or sprinp 
upon the western branch thereof, including and comprehending 
all I thin six I to the a tward, northward and 

• I rard, and within forty leagues to the southland of any part 
of the premises described in the grant. 

V ii> J the Eastern boundary of the United 

v the second article of the Treats ol P . is, " a hue 
to be drawn a!., ig th middle of the river Saint Croix, from its 
mouth in the Bay of Fundy, to n Indue inch [si- 

ren, or theretofore had been, within the limits of 
the said P of N 3 i," referring to the province ol 

\ S of which the north-west angle before described 

■ on or boundary, from which the boundn- 
• • 1 ted S .- tr ii eil. 

\ it has altx showu that the source of this river 

i (, otherwise called Scoudiac, upon the western 
branch, and n branch of the I' scot, to which there 

i~ a portage or carrying ; . it : the same plat 

dcntly contemplated as the source from which the line due north 
is to be d i hi the grant to Sir Will- 

\ nil in the 2d article of I 

. 'In- part Ol • rn hound \..\., 

nt, is precisely th '-espond- 

n boundary of the L'mt. Si - in the trt 



i>0 

Thus the lirst principle stated in this argument is established 
beyond all contradiction, 'that by the second article of the 
Treaty of peace, it was intended that no part of the province of 
Nova Scotia should be thereby ceded to the United States, but 
that the province of Nova Scotia according to its ancient limits, 
should be and remain a part of the territories and dominions o! 
his Majesty, as his Majesty had before that time held and pos- 
sessed the same.' 

And this principle being established, the necessity of examin- 
ing into and ascertaining precisely the ancient boundaries of the 
province of Nova Scotia, in the manner that it has been done, 
is clear and obvious, and the result of that examination com- 
pared with the boundaries in the treaty of peace, thus serves in 
its turn to confirm the principle. 

This principle being evident from the words of the Treaty 
of peace itself, no explanation of the treaty, by either party, 
inconsistent with this true and obvious intention of it, can be re- 
ceived consistently with any of the rules and principles of the 
laws of nations, universally acknowledged and admitted obliga- 
tory in such cases, as has already been made to appear, am! 
will be more fully shown, in a more particular reply to the ar- 
guments advanced in support of the claim of the United States, 

From the foregoing facts and arguments, the under-written 
agent feels himself warranted in concluding that the river Scou- 
diac, is the river truly intended under the name of the river 
Saint Croix, in the Treaty of Peace, and forming a part of the 
boundary therein described ; and that the north-west angle of 
Nova Scotia, intended by the treaty, is that angle which is form- 
ed by a line drawn due north from the farthest source or spring 
of the western or main branch of the Scoudiac, to the highlands 
described in the treaty. 

As the final declaration to be made by this honorable Board, 
deciding what river is the river Saint Croix intended by the 
Treaty of Peace, must particularize the latitude and longitude of 
its mouth, as well as of its source, it may be proper and perhaps 
necessary in this place, to say a few words respecting the mouth 
of the river Scoudiac, which has been so fully proved to be the 
river Saint Croix, intended by the treaty. 

By an inspection of the plan of the surveys now before the 
Board, it will appear, in conformity to Champlain's authority, 
that its proper mouth, is where it empties itself into that part ot 
Passamaquady bay which was formerly called the bay of Saiut 
Croix, and is now called Saint Andrews bay ; and this mouth is 
traversed by a line drawn from the north point of Saint An- 



u 

drem mmonly called J 's point, dckm 

ilic opposite point upon ll •■ 10 the | 

where .Mi'- Brewer now lives. In confirmation of tiii . tbi I 
tli : i 1 1 cammed befoi ibe B rd, 

on the |>;iri oftbe United States, hat i B 

upwards, the waters axe call S wdiac; aud from tbi 
P tamaquoddj l'> 
And the Ainluir of tbe historj of the district of Maine, 
iki of the proper month of ilii- river i - I" ing at i 

i I the i onn- 

irv as Hi w( -i u tii. east bank of tin' Scon. line nt it>- mouth." 

It being established that the rivi i Scoudiac, under it 
of the river St. Croix, made a pnrt ot the originaJ bound i 
dI" the pi Nova S nued to be a pai t "i ii 

tern boundary it the time of tin-' treaty nt peace in 176 
r now to enquire whether that Provini e has in 
I it> jurisdiction agreeably to those limits ; 

irds this weslei n bound irj , we 
■ n farther back with nn; • • cy, than lh< 

trea'v i 1783; foi prei us to the war. immediate!) 

; tli.it pei part of N - or A< adii 

. with little interruption, in I of tbe French, 

withstanding the treaty ol Utrecht, by which it was full,) cei 
i Brit 'in. 

The whole eonntr) coming into tlii in of bis Britan- 

, \\ < ■ 'v, l>_\ the treat) of 1763, we arc from theuce to date 
our enqui » the jurisdiction, in fact exercised ovet 

this part of the country, down to the peace in the year 17-.;. 

I I '. - he P of Not Scotia, describ- 

ed in tbe commissions to tin I mors of it, from his Majes- 
ty during that peril mi wi I • • seen to tbe bounda- 
f it. is di i W illiam Alex inder, 
materi il variation tbe alteration "i its 
northern limit- occasioned i^ ll ..it;, province of 
<l bee. 



\0. 12. 

' myofthi Deelarad < mmiuionert — / 

B Tbe i Dat Howell, and 1 I : 

( I th.- 



2> 

Treaty oi" Amity, Commerce and navigation between His Brit - 
annic Majesty and the United States of America, finally to de- 
cide the question ' What River was truly intended under the 
name of the River Saint Croix mentioned in the Treatv of 
Peace between His Majesty and the United States, and forming 
a part of the boundary therein described' 

DECLARATION. 

"We, the said Commissioners, having been sworn 'impartially 
to examine and decide the said question according to such evi- 
dence as should respectively be laid before us on the part of the 
British Government and the United State-, and having heard 
the evidence which hath been laid before us In the agent of his 
Majesty and the agent of the United States, re-pectiveiv .'ppoint- 
ed and authorized to manage the business on behalf of the re- 
spective Governments Have decided, and hereby do decide. The 
River herein after particularly described and mentioned to be 
the river truly intended under the name of tin: River Saint Croix 
in the said Treaty of Pcac and forming a part of the Boun- 
dary therein described. That is to say, The mouth of the said 
River is in Passamaquoddy Bay at a point of land called Joe's 
Point, about one mile northward from the northern part of 
Saint Andrews Island, and in the Latitude of forty five degrees, 
five minutes and five seconds north, and in the Longitude of six- 
ty-seven degrees twelve minutes and thirty seconds west from 
the Royal Observatory at Greenwich in Great Britain, and three 
degrees fifty four minutes and fifteen seconds east from Harvard 
College in the University of Cambridge in the State of Massa- 
chusetts, and the course of the said river, up fromits said mouth. 
is northerly to a point of land called the Devil's Head, then turn- 
ing the said point, is westerly to where it divides into two streams, 
the one coining from the westward and the other coming from 
the northward, having the Indian name of Cheputnatecook or 
Chibniticook, as the same may be variously spelt ; then up the 
said stream so coming from the northward to its source, which is 
at a stake near a yellow birch tree, hooped with iron, and mark- 
ed S. T. and J. H. 1797, by Samuel Titcomb and John Harris, 
the surveyors employed to survey the abovementioned stream 
coming from the northward. And the said river is designated 
on the map hereunto annexed and hereby referred to, as farther 
descriptive of it by the letters ABC DEFG H1K and b. 
The letter A being at its said source, and the course and distance 
of the said source, from the Island af the confluence of the a- 
bnvementioned two streams is, as laid down on the said map. 



B 

north rees and about fifteen minutes, ^ u i._\ toe nn. 

md one quart* i 

I i ii > \ .■ hereof, »■ bat • 

:n IV. \ i.li nee, in the S ' ' lh< ;« 

lifih cl.iv n . hi <<.. \< ci hi thoi rid i hundn ■ ! 

and niuet) -eight. 

THOM \ BAR( LAI . L S. 
D\\ ID HOW II I.. I • 
EGBER I' Bl NSON, L S 

Wil I DM Utl> W IN (LOW, S (HI ir\ ' 



NO. 13. 

( of inn teeuted Declaratu 

By it ■ ■- ers appointed in pursuance of the tilth arti- 

of Amity, eommerce and navigation he- 
ll hi3 Britanic Majesty and the United States ol \ 
finally to decide the question. W • i til v intended 

under the name of the river St. ( Iroix, mentioned in the treaty ol 

. between bis Majesty and the Uniti d - and forn 

.i put of the boundary therein described.' 

DEI LARATIOIV. 

\\ i imissioners, havi - n sworn impartially 

line and decide thi said qui dinj to - u. h evi- 

1I-. on the pari of the 

British Governmei I Si and having heard 

tin - n laid before us b) thi if In 

; nof the I - spectivel} appoin- 

i ■ » man ig behalf of tb 

i mil ben i . that 

the rivet I where it 

the Lake ( Si idiac 

I ■ aboul fivi -, in a di- 

1 lis into it, ami ;i- 

bout twenty i from 

jKiint nl land • D ■ I from it- said ■■'>; 

it I. is) to the said point of land, it h >» the Indian 
diac, :iinl iu count for that exl rly, and I 

turning lb tint and leaving * * < k point ba) on the north, 

moutli, whii . iti mpli 

elf into I ' I ;' at -i »inl ol ' 



point, ;iliout one mile northerly from the northern point of tiie 
island of St. Andrews, and in the latitude of" forty-live degrees, 
five minutes, and five seconds north, and in the Longitude of. 
sixty-seven decrees, twelve minutes, and thirty seconds west, 
from the royal observatory of Greenwich in Great Britain, and 
three degrees and fifty four minutes and fifteen seconds east from 
Harvard College in the University of Cambridge, in the Stau 
of Massachusetts, is the river truly intended under the name of 
the river St. Croix, mentioned in the said treaty of peace, and 
forming a part of the boundary therein described, and the map 
of it hereunto annexed, is hereby referred to as further descrip- 
tion ol it. 

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands and 
seil?, at Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, the 
day of in the year, one thousand seven hundred and 

ninety-eight. 

Providence, October iSd. 1798. 

SiR — I have considered with attention your letter of this day, 
and it appears to me evident that the adoption of the river Che- 
putnatecook as a part of the boundary between his Majesty's 
American dominions and those of the United States, in prefer- 
ence to a line drawn from the eastern most point of the Scoudiac 
Lakes, would be attended with considerable advantage. It 
would give an addition of Territory to the Province of New 
Brunswick, together with a greater extent of navigation, on St. 
John's river, and above all, a larger stretch of natural frontier 
calculated to prevent future difficulties and discussions between 
the two countries. If therefore by assenting to the proposal of 
the American agent, you can bring about the unanimous con- 
currence of the Commissioners in this measure, I am of opinion, 
that you will promote his Majesty's real interest, and I will take 
the earliest opportunity with a view to your justification of ex- 
pressing tbe=e my sentiments, on the subject to his Majesty's Sec- 
retary of State. 

I have the honor to be, 

with great truth and regard, 

Sir, Your most Obedient 
Humble Servant, 
(Signed) ROBERT LISTON 

WARD CHIPMAN, Esq. 



25 
SO, I I. 

Liu rfrom theC to the S I try r.fSinte. 

of tin United Stmts. 

r '!nml. 2<)th. March, i 827. 

Sin : Having had the honor to n ceive your letter of January 
J9th lit I transmit, in reply, the accompany inp 'Repori 
t; tire to the Northeaster i boundary of the Si ite "I 
M i.. The attention which you have heretofore paid to the 
adjustment of the United States' bound > peciallj in anoth- 
er pan of the Union, assures me, that \ on will receive the dot 
oments, I have mentioned, with that interest to irhich thej ire 
entitled. With the confidence winch belongs to the |p.nrmiie 
■ad paternal charactei ofll veroment of the I aieo, and with- 
out complaining of it, in an) particular, I m%j bi permitted to 
it ilit growing importance of the Countn clai ed i.iinst 
the United Stales and M iini ng desire 

to have a:i open or confidential developemi nl of the material 

The Report and Resolves contain the evidence of the pn 
disposition and purposes of the State, which will receive mj of- 
ficial co-operation with the same zeal and fidelity that will ( i 
fully be applied, if requisite, in aiding to carry into effect any 
applicable tothe protection of the rights in 
ion. The ai S ate to possess the doc- 

uments, ("i oopies of them,) which contain tin e of a ti- 

tle to soil and of a jurisdictional authority which ii will, and) r 
thr I 'nil. : S maintain, i f it shall discharge its duty either to 

f, will be duly appreciated by yourself and 
by the President. 

While that anxii t\ i- bereenk rtained by all the Citizens, ii i< 
not only with reference to an important local concern, but is 

.1 with their inclination to a harmonic i with all who 

nt m admit ofit. In pursuant ■ be Ri 

of the Legislature of Maine, I have th« honor to solicit such in- 
formation, relative to the Northeastern boundary of that State, 
as the President ma j deem propei to content I commoni- 

t mj riot) to ."i' ; . tl t bi in iii will bi 

1 from an early determination im baiassing m the 

iting its bests pursuits, threatening t" some o 
hopes, and believed to be unfounded. 

• - R f M —Pag 



NO. 15. 

Letter from the Secretary of State of the United States, to the 
Governor of Maine. 

Washington, 27 th March, 1S27. 
Sir : T have to acknowledge ilie receipt of the Letter which 
your Excellency did trie the honor to address to me on the 20th 
instant, with a Copy of the Report of the joint select Committee 
of the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of 
Maine, enclosed, both of which 1 have submitted to the Presi- 
dent. The deep interest, which is taken by the State of Maine 
in the settlement of our Northeastern Boundary with Great 
Britain, is very natural. And I assure you that it is a subject 
on which the President feels the most lively solicitude. Mr. 
Gillatin is charged with, and has actually entered on, a negotia- 
tion concerning it, but which was not brought to a close at the 
last dates from him, nor is it probably yet terminated. Al that 
period, the prospect was, that there would be no other alternative 
than that of referring the difference between the two Governments 
to arbitration, according to the provisions of the Treaty of Client. 
Much difficulty was experienced even in adjusting certain pre- 
liminary points necessarily connected with the reference, and 
they havt not yet been finally arranged. 

When an application was made, during the session of Con- 
gress prior to the last, by the Senators of Maine, for copies of 
all the papers in this Department respecting the disputed boun- 
dary, it was not deemed expedient to furnish copies of the Re- 
ports and arguments of the Commissioners, the publication of 
which, it was believed, would be prejudicial. Copies of any 
surveys, maps, or documentary evidence, were offered. The 
same considerations, which then existed, arc still believed to be 
opposed to letting copies go from this Department of those re- 
ports and arguments. With that exception, copies of any of the 
other papers returned by the Commissioners will be furnished 
whenever application is made for them. 

It is stated in the Report of the joint select committee that 
' We cannot view the acts complained of by the British Govern- 
ment as encroachments upon the rights of New Brunswick or 
Great Britain, for they relate and were 'jnlv intended to relate to 
the territory within the description of the Treaty.' Although the 
President mi^ht be disposed entirely to coincide in this opinion, 
with the State of Maine, it must not be forgotten, that an oppo- 
site opinion is entertained b\ Great Britain, with whom we are 
now treating. If, whilst the controversy is unsettled, and during 



■r, 

, g ,,t a ii. ;oti i part) pro* i eds to take pa i 

sion of whal be ' lairos to belong lo him, • b itfa u i n nil. i" 
the same territory, an immediate collision is unavoidable. Tbt 
Bnti-li Government baa abstai irding the i-«ur.i 

ibeir minister bei the pi rformance of any 

1,. n b might bi construed in rclseol the rights 

rereigntj or - il ovei the disputed lerritor) ; and they so 
;ili tained on our i lion, and at our instance. Under 

tin >. circumstances, the President continues to think, thai it is 
most advisable, lb it we lould . tbe like Ibrbearano 

recommended in tin Li iters, which I had the honor of addn 
ing to ! icellency, on the 4th January of the last, ind tbi 

.".»tli of Januarj of-thi This mutaal forbears 

lieved t" h essential to the harroon) between the two 
Countries, and ma) bat >rable tendenc) ha tbe amicablt 

Serence between them. 
Itis worth) also ol consideration, that, =» ■ tho>i crti M 
most, she is not thconK State, interested in the settlement of 
this question. 

■> E ■ may be perfectly persuaded, that every effort 

will be employed to obtain a satisfactory, ostd as speedy ;i ilni- 

biuii of ibis matter, as ma) be practicable ; :>inl that not less m- 

tention will be paid lo it, thin hi- ■ vwi on the \iart of the 

the United St ites in the adjastinent of their boun- 

iii anolti l ion to^which \ u refer, whilst it 

is Ii nt incidc .;-, which occurred there, 

led in tin Northeast 

I transmit herewith, for the consideration of yoar Excellency, 

an extract from a despatch ol Mr. < ■ .1 Maim, under date tbe 3otl; 

• 



NO. M>. 

/. r from At C of M S S It of 

1/1. / nited St 

I' •/.,,,'. XZthAprU, 1827. 

Sik. — 1 bad the honor to n ur letter, bearing date, 

"ih, uli to which it i- ra) I the only organ of 

■ of Maine, ji ilu^ lime, snd "ii ibis 
I ply. 
Xhe rights : • whii h nn > are " t 'l ; 



98 

rected, are not, as I trust, jeopardized ; but they are so interest- 
ing, as to demand the sedulous attention of those functionaries 
of this State, who are placed in relations which enable them to 
represent, through you, to the President, the feelings and princi- 
ples requiring of Maine its special regard, and which may be re- 
spectfully offered to the Country and the Administration. 

Without bringing the subject to that test of deep and general 
anxiety, by which, in a certain contingency, it must be tried at 
last. I shall offer a {rank and sincere reply. 

The extracts from Mr. Gallatin's communication, with which 
you favored me, being the foundation of some of your remarks, 
allow me to advert to a view of the subject, to which he informs 
you he was led by procedures of the Legislature ofNew-Bruns- 
wick. I iiow refer to what he lias said as to propositions of 
compromise by Agents of Maine and Massachusetts, relating to 
the boundary line. The danger of inferences, under such cir- 
cumstances, from the ' proceedings of the Legislature of New- 
Brunswick,' is so evident thatyeu will not be surprised by a de- 
nial of their correctness. 

Assenting to the idea that ' propositions on our part, incon- 
sistent with our construction of the treaty, and which would not 
secure to us all the waters which empty into the St. Johns, west 
ol the line running north from the source of the St. Croix, would 
be dangerous,' and being also prepared to admit that Maine 
would be inconsistent and unjust to herself in making such pro- 
positions, 1 shall satisfy you that she has not been off her guard 
in the manner, which called forth your friendly intervention. — 
And first, allow me to assure you, that there is no occasion for 
alarm on the part of the Administration or its Minister in Eng- 
land, that Maine will jeopardize the common welfare, bv failing 
to insist on the justice and indefeazible character of its claim, or 
by shrinking from a firm assertion in any alternative. 

The Agents whose supposed Acts ' would seem, from certain 
proceedings of the Legislature of New-Brunswick,' to have been 
as incautious as is represented, had no authority to propose anv 
compromise as to our boundary, and if anv was offered, it was 
officious and unwarrantable, but lam enabled to inform you that 
the affair has been misrepresented to Mr. Gallatin, and 1 should 
offer the proofs of the correctness of this assurance in detail, if I 
did not believe it improper to pursue the consideration of inoffi- 
cial acts, and of statements ill-founded, or if otherwise, inconse- 
quential. Grateful, therefore, for the attention evinced by the 
caution he has given, however unnecessary, we will receive it as 
the pledge of his vigilance and ability. 



-"' 

lii concluding, is to ilii-* point, let mr fortify i i .< \ 

apprehension that Maine will yield ion mu r on 

plainly, thai it is not believed thai either the treat) makinS 01 
itive power of the United States extends to the c< io/i or 
exi hange "i the territory of an) Si ite, without its consent ; and 
tli a inr i stronger 10 S barter thai domain in 

which the I nion It is uU<> an interi -t, and thai jurisdictio/i which 
the highest political duly requires it ti> exercise. Maine will, 
sorely, I beli maintain these principles, as to warrant 

a relianee against indiscreet and unconstitutional conce sions ami 
i n the application <>l her menus t" the r/pulsion ol 

I have full reliance upon her disposition and ability 
ider the President :ill the ;iiil which can be denred 
the unfounded and presumptuous 1 1 1 iros m i y against ber 

and tin- Union, to promote an ob iggi Jted apG supported on- 

ly b) bo imbition and rapidity, which, ahhoupfn natural, is nev- 
ertheless oo our part altogether objectionable II these views 
shall not satisf] thi President, of the confidence to which Maine 
titled, as to the assertion and defence of her rights, I shall 
with pleasure offer those further proofs which I omit at pn 
only from ibedesi your indulgence for a few ad- 

ditional observations. 

[t was with much regret, not unmingled with mortification, 
thai I •■il your denial of the nseofthe Reports and Ar- 

guments of the ( !ommissioners under the treaty of Ghent. From 
it information which it was hoped the United 
u Id yield to a part] ime interests with t hem- 

id only desirous to sustNin i ntsnmed that there 

arc rea - for \ ' decision, through which that n sp i I will bi 

commanded, now from great defi n anticipation. 

Wishing to icl in full coincidence with the views entertained b\ 
the federal administration, the State mnsi be bound to believi in 
i mutual regard, and to irto avoid an) emban issinf 

plications on her own part, bat il may not bi unsuitable for bei 
• •• of confiilenri' in return. 
Ml that forbearance, which the occasion requin >. will, I 
may safely assure you, \»- exhibited by this Stati While her 
mil i doable tracts of wild land, which might otherwise 
i be improved, remain unsettled : — while ber progress in wealth 
and power i> checked in a mosi n inner, ut the pi d 

!'ivorable to giving an impulse i" ber prosperity: — while 
many important n i%l rmant during the pend 

of the dispute as to her property d jurisdiction* fron- 

• • r, which mighl soon • mains unfortil ■ 



• so 

freemen anxious to occupy it, she will, I doubt not, forbear on 
the i' quest of the General Government, until the imperious call 
of duty shall summon her to occupy her inheritance. Seeking to 
promote, by all suitable concessions, the amicable adjustment 
you refer to, she will only withdraw her deference and submission, 
when a claim unjust in itself, may seem to expose a portion of her 
territory to incorporation with a Province. — With this spirit of 
forbearance, she has sought information only as to an interest vital 
to herself, as well as important to the country, without any pur- 
pose calculated to excite distrust, with only such patriotic views 
as have rendered the refusal to comply with her request, a sub- 
ject of that species of surprise, which a friend, predetermined to 
take no offence, feels when he is not treated with correspondent 
confidence. 

Maine, Sir, was with great difficulty introduced into the Union: 
but, if I recollect rightly, the arguments which were used, she was 
introduced as a sovereign and Independent Stale. 

As a free, sovereign, and independent republic, may we not be 
permitted to have communication with the Authorities of the 
Union, or do they mean that we shall submit implicitly to their 
direction, however wise it may be, at the same time that they de- 
clare their conviction of the propriety of withholding information ? 
The general concerns of the Union, are of course communicated 
only to the whole, but that which relates to a particular commu- 
nity, where its daily intercourse demands information, seems to 
warrant the request I have made, and which I am reluctantly im- 
pelled to renew, with this modification, that any communication, 
made in return, will be received, if so required, subject to a re- 
striction on publicity beyond a communication to the Legislature 
in the usual terms of confidential communications. If the Pres- 
ident will not consent to this, we must yield with the deference 
we owe to the station he holds, to the claims he has on our af- 
fections and confidence, to the information he possesses, and the 
prudence he displays to any extent within which the absolute and 
indefeazible rights of Maine, may not be compromitted. Will 
you permit me to add that, as to all beyond that, this State may 
probably claim the right to use her moral and physical energies 
as she may be directed by the future emergencies; and I am sure, 
if her good will shall impel her, with power enough to sustain her 
right to soil and jurisdiction, wherever she may probably claim 
them against any probable foreign and arrogant assumption ; es- 
pecially with the aid of the general government. 

I do not wish to weary your patience by urging the particular 
arguments which might sustain my proposition. It is true, Sir. 



.11 

that Maine is not the onl) Stah interested. i 

rail) int( rested in rfol 

com liiy "ii our Northeast! rn U 

N ^ ork, m ilu- last, be the pride an n in 

the next wai . Whent II 

ii the u r. ihis R >''lii- and ( tain, 

position of Maine will require activity, strength, a 
( |, I,, - • posed i" :; Ini ■-.<■ portii and 

suffering, and will be, I hope and beli |uire the 

dun to which such exposure, with unim| ins, will i 

. 

Politically p led, with three foreif 

idl: upon bet borders, v I the 

high responsibility • i ieved 

thru she will i marks to be 

. ami \ ield to a mi. I lor- 

powi r. I tn highly appn <-i ite her intel- 

• I -pirit than to imagine ih ng and p< 

a surrender can bi consented to by her. 
i otborited i \ en to consider 

lennine the extent of In r muuii • 

territorial limits within which >!"• will exercise it ? 1 1 a m 

I r the I S it of the 

treatv in iKiu^ power, is, upon principle, imperative, •' 
to In- silent aiul passive; !>ut if not, 
may r<l\ upon In nd patriot 

i inglit to 'I her j i 

While mult i rith Great B y in dis- 

■ d, the diiii' uh\ I the 

application of the rule in ih 
of tli'' ground. The li.i.t. to tl 

! bnl its existence 

prior to it, and no -ii r i ■ nadc 

without the ' and tl \ 

Mirr- I nral. in otll- 

• r \\ 

hones) delern I the land- \ 'line 

!>ut sophistrj . and thai lich i \- 

lot in this republic, whit 
!-tr"u- falsi 
I, i\ i led ihi ■ neroies of Maine. 
In 

i i omi litti 
appr I I 



32 

shall trouble you with a brief comment in regard to it. It rests 
upon the idea before suggested that Maine, with Massachusetts, 
has a perfect title in the disputed territory, and that the former 
State, has a vested, indefeazible jurisdictional control over it, 
the exercise of which it may irresponsibly apply. It is a pro- 
position which has been demonstrated by yourself so clearly, as 
to have commanded general respect, that the abstraction of the 
territory of the United States, cannot be made by the treaty 
making or executive power. Much more then must the domain 
of a State within its acknowledged limits be sacred, and much 
more and more is it evident, that neither department of the fed- 
eral government, nor all, can be the exclusive and final arbiter as 
to the ascertainment of a boundary already established in de- 
scription ; because, if one department, or all, have this power, 
they may ascertain the line falsely, indirectly cede our State, 
converting it into a British dependency, and thus by the argu- 
ments, I had the invaluable satisfaction of bearing applied in a- 
notber case, violate the constitution. If, therefore, the commit- 
tee have fallen into error, it has not been in the principle of their 
judgment as to the rights of this State abstractly considered; 
but in their view of the extent o'. our territory and of the ap- 
plication of our authority over it. They in fact substantially 
assert that the treaty of 1783, in connexion with original grants, 
and subsequent and correlative circumstances, established and 
defined our bounds, so as to preclude just complaint of our pub- 
lic acts within the scope of those legitimate powers, which at the 
discretion of the State, it may, within those bounds, any where 
apply. The doctrine of the committee can only be refuted by 
proving that the national authority is exclusive as to the adjust- 
ment of our exterior boundary; but let it be recollected that the 
present case only admits the ascertainment of a line by a rule 
prescribed, and not the creation of one arbitrarily, or in other 
words, by arbitrament. A right was vested in a third party be- 
fore the Union existed, and has been confnmed by it since. In 
short, the committee, it is believed, may be considered as claim- 
ing such respect as may be attached to those who have truly ex- 
hibited the sentiments of this community. 

Anxious, as in my situation, I cannot avoid being, for the 
preservation, during my continuance in office and always after, 
of the rights of the State, I must express my alarm at a portion 
of Mr. Gallatin's letter. He says, ' an umpire, whether a King 
or farmer, rarely decides on strict principles of law; — he has 
always a bias to try if possible to >plit the difference,' &c. ; and 
yet 1 am informed that there has been in progress an arrange- 



meet of thr preliminary points, for constituting such an umpirs), 
1 cannot but hop- that m arrangemi nl will be effected, which 
will endanger the half fri di lb* nun' circumstance of u wrong* 
lul claim to the whole, under the pitiful weakness which is liable 
to split i he difference between right and wrong. 

Let mc add, in this particular pari of my letter, most respect- 
fully, but solemnly, the sentiment, thai Maine is bound to claim 
at the hoods of the federal government, the protection of the 
iitv of her territory, the defence of her ■sovereignty, and 
the guardianship of her S S C tiled upon to urge 

this thai she may be rather permitted to rcit on the parental care 
of the Union than drit ndent agency, in any 

form, in relation to this concern. 

That j nu may d prised that the State, after having 

fruitlessly sought information should ban determined on its 
coarse without it, give y thai uhile she cannot be 

preaamed to be informed in all particulars, as to the relations of 
, interesting character in which (be i- placed, she is cal- 
led upon to j i and is not without the premises 
r\ to correct conclusions. 

Whatever intelligence she might have been permitted to re- 
ceive as to her relative situation, she would, as she will hereafter, 
cheerfully co-operate with the general government to prevent 
sumption of our territory, to whatever extent, by the King 
of ( ire.it Britain. 

In executing the Resolve of the Legislature it will be conven- 
ient to me to | ■ hedule of those documents which may 
anniented. I will, therefore, hope the favor of being 
furnished *ilh such an index lor the direction of my iii^uirios. 



WO. 17. 

l.tll-r t'rom the Srcrrtary of S th- United State*, to 

th' i , v f .Maine. 

II ashington, 1th .1/iy, 1627. 

v in : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 

Excellency's letter of the 18th ultimo, and to inform you r I I 

• i it totbi .' it. The solicitude which is felt 

I tfa Legislature of Maine, in regard to 

ment of our North eastern boundary, so interesting to 

that S important to the whole LViOll, is perfectly 

s 



34 

natural, and justly appreciated by the President. And he is entirely 
disposed to communicate any information in the possession of the 
Executive of the United States on that subject, which can, in his 
opinion, be communicated without the danger of public detri- 
ment. Accordingly, when, at the session of Congress before 
the last, an application was made at this Department, by the 
Senators from Maine, for copies of all the papers, maps, and oth- 
er documents reported by the Commissioners, who were ap- 
pointed under the fifth article of the Treaty of Ghent, it was sta- 
ted to those gentlemen, that the copies would be furnished 
whenever requested, with the exception of the reports and argu- 
ments of the Commissioners, transcripts from which, consider- 
ing their peculiar character, in the then state of the question, 
the President did not think it expedient to allow to be taken. 
The Senators from Maine availed themselves of the permission, 
and obtained copies of some of the maps. Copies of all the pa- 
pers reported by the Commissioners, which are very voluminous, 
would require the services of two or three copyists for many 
weeks ; but the labor of preparing them would be cheerfully en- 
countered for the accommodation of the State of Maine. 

The negotiation with Great Britain is still pending, but there 
is re 'son to expect that it will soon be brought to some conclu- 
sion ; perhaps in a shorter time than would be requisite to co- 
py and transmit the papers reported by the Commissioners, to 
your Excellency. The President continues to think, that the 
public interest requires, that the communication of transcripts of 
the reports and arguments of the Commissioners, even under the 
limitation proposed by your Excellency, should be postponed 
for the present, and until it can be made without the risk of any 
injurious effect upon the state of the negotiation. Your Excel- 
lency's experience in public affairs, will enable you to make a 
just estimate of the reserve and delicacy which ought to be ob- 
served in all negotiations with foreign powers, involving sub- 
jects of deep national interest. This consideration has such 
weight, that it is the uniform practice of Congress, as no one 
knows better than your Excellency, to annex a qualification to 
the calls which are from time to time made, for papers relating 
to the Foreign negotiations of the Government. There would 
not be the smallest objection to an exhibition to the inspection 
of'your Excellency, or confidentially, to any person that you 
might think proper to designate, of all the papers, without ex- 
ception, reported by the Commissioners. I abstain from a par- 
ticular notice of many of the topics of your Excellency's letter, 
not from the least want of respect, (on the contrary I entertain 



Vo 



the highest, person ills ud ollu-i.ilU.i foi » . .tir Kxcellcney, but 
from a persuasion thai ibe dncassion of them ii without utility. 
It has been 1 1 1 1 > u lt h t mott profitable t<> limit mv answer to the 
•pecilif requests i onUined in your letter. 

I transmit, herewith, in conformity with your with, a li~t of tin' 
papers reported by the Commissioners, copies of aoj of which 
may be procured, for the nse of the State of Maine, crben 
desired, with the exception which hai been stated. 



NO, 1H. 

.1 J. it of Books, papers , a/e. relative »u the !>th Artxclt 

of the Treaty of (Hunt. 

BOOKS. 

Vol. I. Journal of Commission. 

Vol. II. Claims of .l^cnts. 

Contain';. Claim of the agent of the United States. 

Kirst. memorial concerning the Northwest angle of 
N S i, and the North westernmost bead of Con- 
necticut River, kc. 

By the agent of H. B. Maj 
Second, Memorial concerning same. By same. 

Vol. III. Answers of Agents. 

Contains, A reply to the Memorial of the Agent of the United 
x tea, filed Bin June, I821, exhibiting the line of the 
boundary of the United States from the source of the 
River St Croix, to the Iroquios or Cataraguy. 
Answer of the Agent United Slates to the claim and 
opening argument ol the Agent of H. B. Majesty. 
K id, August 10th, l^Jl. 

Vol. IV. Replies of the Agents. 

Contains, The Reply of the Agent of the United States to the 
answers of the Agent of II. B. Majesty to the claim 
and opening argument of the Agent of the United 
Stales, kc. R id, Sept 27th, 1821. 

Observations upon the answers of the Agent oflhe 
United States, to the Claim and opening argument 
of the Agent of H. B Ma 

Bj the Agent of H. B. Majesty. 



86 

Vol. V. General Appendu . 

Contains, Reports of the Surveyors and Astronomers, and 
Documents referred to, in the Arguments of the 
Agents. 

Appendix to British Agent's Reply. 
(Duplicate) Report of Commissioner C. P. Van 
Ness. 

Report of the Commissioner of H. B. Majesty, 
addressed to the Government of the United States. 
Appendix to the Report of H. B. Majesty's Com- 
missioners. 



NO. 19. 
INDEX. 

Numbers referred to in Numbers referred in the 

the U. S- arguments. British arguments. 

1. Mr. Johnson's survey of the Line North from the St. ) 
Croix in 1817. ) 

2. Col. Bouchett's survey of the same Line, 1817. 2 

3. Mr. Johnson's further survey of the North Line and ^ 
adjacent Country in 1818. $ 

4. Mr. Odell's further survey of the North Line. H. 

5. Capt. Partridge's section of the country from Point 
Levi, to Hallowel, Maine, 1S19, of the different Heights 
through the Grand Portage of Matawasca on St. John 
Rivers, of Mar's Hill. 

6. Survey of the Restook section of the same, and of; 
Mar's Hill. J 

7. Mr. Odell's survey of the Restook with a sketch oH 
the country as viewed from Mar's Hill and the vicinity > G. 
of the Houlton Plantatian, ) 

8. Mr. Hunter's survey of the Allaguash River. 6 

9. " " " of the Penobscot, First Part. 7 

10. « « " of the Penobscot, Second Part. 8 

11. Mr. Burnham's survey of the Branches of Connecti- } r» 
cut River. y 

12. Doc. Tiark's survey of Connecticut River and its } . 
Tributary streams. $ 

13. Mr. Burnham's survey of Memkeswee, Green Riv- 
ers and Beaver stream. 



14. Mr. Burohara' HM} ofToladit Rivet ml Grand) (() 

I'oii ) 

15. I),.,-, i lie ond <; K l ' 

16. Mr. Loriug'i surv< I I' ■•' Riv< r. II 
17 •• ■• ■• M Hirer 13 
lc. Mr. Campbell's sketch of the Height of Land si . el - < ( - 

■ i Mr. Odell's Report of the lorvej of 1819. s 

19. |fr. Hunter's survey of the Rivei 5 J bn. il 

20. Mr. Loss' servey of th< R - ' bn. 15 
II, m |' idge's survey of the Cbaudiere, the source of) lfi 

the Dead River, and ibi 1. isl Branch of the Connecticut, > 
jj. Mr. Carlile's turvej of the Head waters of the Chan- | .. 

diere and Kenm bee Rivers. S 

13. Mi. Burnham Liver OoeHe ami of the 7 (8 

Black R S 

24, Mr. Carlile's survey oflhe Rivers. I - 

25. Mr. Buroham's survey of the sources of the M< itjar- j , o 
nuc , P it and & John Rivers. ) 

M Carlile's survey of the same source. 21 

|7, t I. Bouchett's Barometrical section of the Line "> ^ 

\ mIi from the St ( !roix, 5 

28. Exu ici from Carrigan's Map of New Hampshire. C 

from Mitcbel's Map of ( ut River. 1). 

Col. Bouchett's concerning the Parallel line. E. 
20. Extra Mitchell's Map as first filed by the 15rit- > 

ish Agent ) 

30. Plan of the former survey of the Latitude of Forty five > 
degrees North, in 17? 1 i 

. Idditional. 
Map ofthc ( i (placed is the years 1817, 1818, IS19, 

and 1820, by order of the Commissioners under the 5th Article 
ofthe Treaty of Ghent. 

Mips rrferred to in tht British Jgtnfs Rrply. 

\. M ■ i onnecticnt River bj Docl Tiai 

i; , g i R r. Burnham. 

C. Extract from Carrigan's M N Hampsh ■ 

D. Extracts from Mitchell's M ip ibewing the heads of ^ 

' iiivi timt River. S 

I.. < : . | it's plan shewing the different lines consid- ) 

ered as the parallel of 45 N rth. ) 

F, Mr. i ceteh of i hi of land anoexi d > 

" i > 'iRi port of the soi 1819. | 



38 

G. Mr. Odell's plan of the survey of the Restook, with a) 

sketch of the Country as viewed, Hill and the vicinity > 

ofHoulton. - ) 

H. Extract from Mr. Odell's plan of the due North line ex- > 

ploredin 1818. \ 

I. General extract from Mitchell's map. 

K. Corrected Copvofsame Extract. 

Filed August 14, 1821. 
• (signed) S. HALE. Secretary 
Title of the British. 

This Atlas (containing the Copies of Maps and parts of Maps 
and plains with the exception of the last Mitchell's map which 
was filed as thereon stated) accompanied the answering argument 
of the Agent of H. B. Majesty filed on the 14th of August last. 



1VO. 20. 

Letter from the Governor cf Maine, to the President of the Uni- 
ted States. 

Portland, May 19, 1827. 

Sir : The situation in which this State is placed, in consequence 
of the unexecuted provision of the Treaty of Ghent relative to its 
Northeastern boundary imposes upon me a duty which I am not 
permitted to compromise by my feelings of respect for yourself, 
and the high authority with which you are invested. However 
discouraging may have been the correspondence I have had with 
the Secretary of State, I cannot decline a course deliberately 
determined upon, or admit the belief, that a representation rela- 
ting to the welfare of Maine can be unwelcome. It is not the 
comparatively light concern of a passing favor, or the import of 
a transient measure that I am about to urge ; but it is that of ma- 
king a memorial for consideration and record as to the demesne 
and jurisdiction of this member of the Union. 

Obliged to depend principally for information upon rumor, the te- 
nacity of knowledge, which is power, has not, however, concealed 
the fact that the British Government has made a claim embracing 
a large tract of country adjacent to the Province of New-Bruns- 
wick. Information from various sources cannot fail to have pro- 
duced on your mind a just impression of the importance commu- 
nicated to that territory in reference to value and jurisdiction, by 
its qualities of soil, its variety of native productions, its streams 



90 

tuition, tnd all 1 1» i lo render it not 

onlv i i i r i < ■ r to invasion, but fruitful of the mam 

ot prosperity to our maritime frontier. The S of M : aims 

the propriety in so undivided moiety, and the entire jurisdiction, 

r as consistent with Jjhe paramoont power of thi l 

i relation to that extensive tract. Having learned thai 
the title thereto h invoh ed in the details of a diplomatic irran 
merit conducted under the sanction ofthe executive departmeul 
of the federal government, Maine, although not consulted, \>.i 
hound from deferenci . to pay ■ due respect lo reasons, the nature 
and force of which she is, from ■ studious and mj steriooi reset \ i 

iinalilv to comprehend, believes il ogbt to present 

her expostulations in regard to any measun - threatening her with 
injury. 

The Secretary of State has informed me that the disputed 
claims id laud along our Northeastern boundary are to in- sub- 
mitted to arbitration. Hy arbitration 1 understand a submission 
to some foreign Soven S ite, who will decide at pleasure 

on the whole subject, who will he underno absolute obligations 
or effectual restraint by virtue of the Treaty of I 7- '., irhose con- 
science will not bo bound to impartiality and justil e l>\ the sol- 
emn sanction of an oath, and whose li i lings may naturally be bi- 
' ■ Ri public accused of inordinate ambition, and in 
whose peace and prosperity there is an interesting lts;on and 
'iiple for nations. 

The treaty making f I nited States on one side, 

and his Britannic Majesty on the other, en. .ice to consider the 
decision of the Arbitrator final and conclusive. Let me say that 
to a surrender of Territory, involved as a possibility, it will, I 
trust, be made evident that there ii another party, not lo be an 
indifferent spectator of its own delaceratiou. The mind in con- 
templating our prospects is carried to the Courts of Europe, and 
led to scan the tribunals to which you may refer ibis subject — 
It would be unsuitable for me to comment onlhe dispositions or 
talents of fore S ens or Si les, but it is not in cold blood 

I can anticipate the commit; lestiuiea of Maine loan 

ponsible arbiter to be found in a distant laud ami necessarily 
unqualified to act in the case. The character of this arbitership has 
tusly exhibited \>\ Mr. Gallatin in that letter, in 
i on the authority of intelligence from New-Brunswick, In 
■ erroneously ascribed an interposition by the Agent! of Mas- 
sachusetts and Ml i . on) promise of our boundary. Suffice 
■hat the proposed arbitration will jeopardize, without her 
-: her will, the ri-lit- of Maine ; and allow m« 



40 

to add, that if called upon to make the required sacrifice, she 
will be compelled to deliberate on an alternative, which will test 
the strictness of her principles, and the firmness of her temper. 

The acknowledgement of the mother country and the exer- 
cise of the inherent power of the people, formed Massachusetts 
into a body politic, originally independent of the present Union 
and of every foreign government. . All the territorial and juris- 
dictional rights which she could acquire were absolutely her own 
and remain so to this day, excepting so far as she has granted 
them to the United States or to Maine. The Treaty of 1783, 
containing the acknowledgment of her emancipation, and exal- 
tation to self-government, was not with the Slates, exclusively as 
a federal body, but partially at least as independent communities, 
that is to say, if in some points of view they appeared as forming 
a national, in other, they were regarded as being an allied asso- 
ciation. Hence the acknowledgment of independence applied 
distinctly to each State, as did also the relinquishment by the 
King of Great Britain of ' the propriety and territorial* rights of 
the same and every part thereof.' It is necessary to notice, that 
at the period of the negotiation of the Treaty of Peace, the 
confederation to a slight extent and in reference to a few objects 
drew the States into concert and gave them a unity of character ; 
but the most superficial examination shows that the confederacy 
had not a common interest in territory or territorial rights, and 
that the recognition of these bore upon the ancient colonies on- 
ly as they held under their charters, or as the fruits of their wis- 
dom and valor, in \'lc simple and absolute sovereignty. 

When by the ratification of the Conventions of the States, 
Massachusetts surrendered to a superintending agency a portion 
of her power, she yielded no right to dispose of her soil, or to 
abstract any part of it from her jurisdiction. She imparted no 
authority to enter into new engagements, or, what may be equiv- 
alent, to modify the means of enforcing an existing provision of 
an original compact made in part with herself, nor to expose 
without her own consent or that of her successor and representa- 
tive to the fate of foreign arbitrament, her dearly purchased and 
sacred rights. On the contrary, Maine, now standing in the 
place of her parent republic, may deem the fifth article of the 
Treaty of Ghent, as having led to a course endangering her 
rights, and rendered more painful and alarming by her exclusion 
from a proper intercommunication and legitimate consideration 
as a party in the case. 

Whatever character appertained to the confederation or to those 
win) entered into that holy league, it is manifest that the States 



II 

ii. u idi ntified and confounded with the 1 man in relation to 
nnestion here presented, under the original treaty ol pi 
and limits. I must, therefore, respectfullj urge that bow- 
the |>"lii\ and principles of the executive department 
of die federal government may dictate the imposition upon 
M ..r tileoce and brbearaneO] and however plainly 

ina\ l>. indicated the disposition to treat the subject as it 
in. i K national, she will not observe any procedure l>\ the 
l S «' it Britain for the severanoe of her territorj 

and the abrogation of her luthority, without a sensibility too ie- 
to be passive. She hold.-, that her domain i*- not the sub- 
ject of Partition. 

I pause 10 render more obvious the relevancy i>t these it 
()i two principles on wuich il depends, it may be su fil- 
iate Inn one. The power of subjecting to arbitration 
with an absolute right in the arbiter to tana and establish ■ ter* 
. d limit it equivalent to the power of cedii g n rritory — 
The •roster is the legal substitute and mutual (fie par- 

ties, in thi> rase sssumed to be the United Stans ami Great Brit- 
ain, bis acts are their acts and there is a positivi pledge to an 
unconditional obedience to his behest It is the delegation of 
the S '• ofadeapot. The effect may be the cessiou of 

all Maine or Of only a pari, but if of any, the government ol the 
United States will participate by an unauthorized submission, in 
the injustice of the umpire. 

It is not controverted thai the control of our forcipn relations 
belongs to the United E to objects which have arisen un- 

der the Constitution or existing laws ; bnt in regard to rights ac- 
quired by an independent part) and interests in property vested 
uterior to the ezi tenet ol that i ompact, the interposition 
\)\ ii, 1 executive without an express grant of power »eems 

to be gratuitous. No tat -man will i«sen. that the treat) mak- 
mc powei is competent to an act transcending the scope of the 
combined trusts of the covernment. 

I nh it to principle-, familiar to your mind, because it i' my 
duty to praatnl the opinions lure entertained. What then is the 
authority, or agency which it may he assumed, would produce 
no n-moostnnces from the State the most deepl ied ? 

Noi sorely that which admits of what i- termed b) Mr. Gallatin, 
splitting th>- difference, nor of conceding property, which 
not belong to the Unitt S nor curtailing a jurisdii 

above their rightful controul. Whatever may be orged to the 
oootrary, it i- coondently at onl) that the provisi m of 

tbc treaty of 1783 is imperative, but that it ft our boun- 



42 

dary with a precision which shames the British claim, and, con- 
nected with the making of that claim, casts a shade over the lus- 
tre of the British character. By negations we may sometimes 
arrive at an affirmative. I say then that the boundary on the 
Surface of the earth, does not rest along the Penobscot, which 
the British, then perhaps contemplating that vast empire, they 
anticipated in North America, insidiously and surreptitiously 
seized during the late war. That boundary cannot be establish- 
ed there. It does not rest where the British minister has pre- 
sumed to place it. The making the claim does not determine 
its justice, nor the -obstinacy of persisting in it create with this 
powerful nation the necessity of a concession, which will as sure- 
ly be followed by a more enormous one, as it is certain that the 
Roman Empire was ignominioiisly subjugated through the base 
spirit of submission to incipient wrong. Enough has been said 
to meet the obvious and natural enquiry, what is expected of the 
government, or may i not say what is demanded of it. — It knows 
the demerit of the British claim ; it is conscious of the rights of 
Maine ; and hereafter it cannot be said that her views have not 
been exhibited. She might therefore be forever justified in the 
exercise of her jurisdiction and sovereign State rights over the 
disputed ground. Her faith is not pledged, nor is that of the 
Union to permit any reduction of her actual territory, and there 
is no artifice of construction or force of authority to break off 
that great component part of her domain now assailed, and to 
bind her judgment to acquiescence. The cession would be nu- 
gatory, and if, for a time, she should be compelled to submit to 
it, the abeyance produced by power will not preclude the right 
of resumption which justice may at some period award. 

It has been urged that this concern is so exclusively national 
that Maine is obtrusive in presenting her views to the con- 
sideration of the executive. It is, nevertheless, believed that she 
is under high obligations vigilently to supervise her interests, 
freely to assert her rights, and not to yield readily to the dis- 
couraging but perfe#t!y natural inclination to see in her conduct 
the humblest deference and an entire unquestioning, improvident 
obedience. She commits no intentional error and communes 
with the frankness which belongs to her independence, her char- 
acter, and her station with her sister Kepublics and with the 
Union. — In doing so she evinces her respect for their integrity, 
intelligence, and patriotism, and she avoids by a prudent forecast 
that danger of collision bred from present distrust and that quer- 
ulous and exasperated temper usually exhibited when the evils 
of measures are experienced and when causes are appreaiated by 
their effects. 



Rti pealing t.> .hi the expression of n rea kvti 

h a inform >i iplated i > v t res- 

olution ni the S I dial) nevertbetesi continue to hope for 

the prusrrvition. under the protecting . U> of gov« rniueiit, of 

(Ii.h now exposed territory, destined under any proprietor to be 
■son occupied by ■ numerous population engaged in all the pur- 
suit- which rastaia human life and adorn human nature. 



\o. 21. 

httttr from the (iovtrnor of Maine, to the Serret(t>y of Slate ol 
the I' nit' 

Portland, 29th April, 1827. 
Sir: 1 am induced by considerations which I derm important, 
to avail m\ -ill of your obliging offer, to obtain copies of all the 
paper* in your office, relative to tbe boundary betweee this State 
and New Brunswick, wbicb the President may permit to be trans- 
mitted. This request applies to maps, with the exception of the 
map aire. id) furnished of the Country explored in the jrears 1817,. 
1818, I8l9, and 1 S JO. by ordet of tbe Comrtaissioners under the 
fifth artiele of the Treat] o( Ghent, by Hiram Burnham, U. S. 

Surveyor. 

1 have the honor also to Boficil transcripts of the arguments of 

Mr. Cbipraan i IMr.Sull \. t under the C mission 

for determining the tun- St Croix ; and of the arguments of Mr". 
\ ii and Mr. ("lupin in, under the Ion l i article of the Treaty 1 
of Ghent, together with the report of the Commisslowen in both 

I '. ... me ni'- for adverting to the punctilio of expense, which I 
-h ill wi-li te see liquidati d 

I have made I eoininuiiication to the President on the subject 
nr North, i ' B irv. which you will perceive from its 

•taturcwas necessarily directed immediately to him. 



>0. 22. 

Ltiter from the Secretary of Stnir of the United States, to < 
erne < M une. 

YVathingto,,. <.>tlt June, 1827. 

Sir : T Ipih has reoerved the letter which your K\. 

cyllency addressed to him, under date the J9th ultioi 



44 



am charged by him to convey to you his assurances that your ob- 
servations on the interesting subject of our Northeastern uoun- 
da:y shall receive attentive and respectful consideration. I beg 
leave to add that in no contingency is any arbitration of the dif- 
ference between the United States and Great Britain, relative to 
that boundary, contemplated, but that for which provision has 
been solemnly made by treaty. It would afford great satisfaction 
to the President, if a resort to that alternative for quieting the dis- 
pute could be avoided, by obtaining trom Great Britain an ex- 
plicit acknowledgment of the territorial claims of Maine, in their 
whole extent. Candor, however compels me to state, that the 
prospects of such an acknowledgment, at the present time, are 
not encouraging. 



NO 23. 

Letter from Daniel Brent, Esq. of the Department of State of the 
United States, to the Gevernor of Maine. 

Washington, June 15, 1S27. 

Sir: I was directed by the Secretary, before his departure 
from this City, a few days ago, on a visit to Kentucky, to have 
copies prepared of the Books &z.c. &ic. requested in your Letter 
to him of the 29th of May, and to transmit them to your Excel- 
lency, with all possible dispatch ; and I have just collected to- 
getner the manuscript Books containing the arguments of Mr. 
Chipman and Mr. Sullivan, agents under the commission for de- 
termining the true St. Croix, and those containing the arguments 
of Mr. Austin and Mr. Chipman, Agents under the 4th Article 
of the Treaty of Ghent, together with the Reports of the Com- 
missioners in both cases, fourteen in number, and averaging, each 
about two hundred and fifty pages of close writing on foolscap 
paper; transcripts of these being particularly noticed by you as 
wanting. Added to those, the arguments, Reports and Papers, 
including the Maps, under the 5th article of the Treaty of Ghent, 
which come, it would seem to ine, within the scope of your re- 
quest, embrace a mass of writing nearly as voluminous as that of 
these Books. I take the liberty under these circumstances, of 
troubling your Excellency with this communication, to apprize 
you of the extent of the transcripts which appear to be thus re- 
quired, and of the delay which must, of consequence, attend the 
execution of your Excellency's commission, as it is, at present, 
understood by me. 

I beg leave, however, to state that the subject is involved in 



I.. 

aril) from the prolix and oompli rnu, 

report* iod replies of the several Commission! rs, agi an, 
omen and Surveyors, that I da "<>i like i" venture upon miking 
lection for the copyists, tboegn I feel fall] persuaded ibM 
tin- might be ■ i m( • oual) done, lo iho great abridg< mi m oi 
their work, .nut to ike expediting of the fulfilment « » i your wish. 

The Senators from j State, Messrs. Holmes and Cbandler, 

have seen the Books, and, n well I recollect, srera famished 
iviiticopii from them; and perhaps, the) might fa- 

vor thh Department, through yout Excellency, with sunn 

■ , i conveni i curtailment, srltich should, 
tmpatible with yoei Excellency's ob- 
I refen • opiea required b) you. 



><>. 2 4. 

letter from tin (t fJM to Daniel Brent, /-'•</. of ih< 

l> jiartment of State, oj the United Suites. 

Portland, July 14,1837. 

s mi : I had tlic honor lo receive your letter, referring me to 
II \l - Holmes ami Cbandler, as to reducing the 
amount of tin- draught 1 had made on the proffered kindness of the 
of Stale. I have availed myself of all possible benefit 
your suggestion ; but am -till disposed to accept, without 
i itiim. the favor he so politely tendered, whii h is done with 
le of obligation, because that favor cannot embi 
the principal objects first contemplated, and is therefore render- 
ed more valuable as lo the residue. It is also believed that 
U ine ought not to lose the opportunity of placing among her 
archives all thost documents which she can obtain 1 1 latins to a 
concern so important a 3 that of a third of her territory. 

Litrnft ofaletterfrom tht Governor efMatemekntetU tn if,, Oot~ 
trwar ot Maine, dated, Kxerutur l)> partment of Massachusetts, 

Boston, July 2d, 1827. 
I beg also to avail myself of this opportunity to acknowle l_. 
th.- receipt of Several interesting communications from yoor Ex- 
cellency in reference to ih' N boundary, which will 
..■ the iiv-t respectful and faithful consideration. Mi own 
opinion of the importance of tin- general views which you h 
in detail, and with great force, pn tented, on this subject, has 

heretofore exp r ess e d in official communication! to the I. 
gi«laturc ofth I tunwealtb, and in i correspondence had 

with the Department of Stite of the United Siat< 



4(3 
3.O. 25. 

Ijctttr from the Governor of Maine to the Secretary of State of 
the United Slates. 

Portland, September 3d. 1827. 
Sir: Since I had the honor of addressing you on the subject 
of the Northeastern boundary of this State, facts have been 
placed within my knowledge which more imperatively than any 
other, urge me to solicit the attention of ihe President to the sit- 
uation in which we are placed. It is now rendered evident that 
the representation made to you and communicated in your let- 
ter of the 27th of March last, that the British government has 
•abstained from the performance of any new acts which might be 
construed into an exercise of the rights of sovereignty or soil over 
the disputed territory, was entirely ii. correct. That representa- 
tion, connected with the recommendation by the President, has 
undoubtedly had much influence with Maine in producing a for- 
bearence, which will probably be objected against her, in com- 
parison with the opposite course- by Great Britain, as containing 
an implied acknowledgment of the rightfulness of the jurisdiction 
which has been exercised for years, by a foreign Power in the 
manner and to an extent which I beg leave now to exhibit, as pre- 
sented to me by credible testimony Along the St. Johns river 
following it up westwardly from the junction of the Matawascah, 
is a very flourishing settlement containing a considerable number 
of peaceably disposed and industrious inhabitants. Among 
these is a proportion of American emigrants, some of whom hold 
their land under deeds from Massachusetts and Maine, and the 
others, or nearly all of them are anxious to obtain titles in the 
same way. The latter at present occupy as tenants at sufferance, 
and neither recognize the lands as being Crown lands, nor do 
they voluntarily submit to British authority. These persons, the 
Government of New Brunswick treats in all respects as aliens, 
denies their right to hold real estate, assesses upon them the al- 
ien tax, and refuses to permit to them the transmission of their 
produce as American. I forbear to speak of many acts of vio- 
lence and petty vexation of which they also complain. The 
other inhabitants are uniformly treated as British subjects, and 
new acts of jurisdiction even to requirement of military duty are 
as frequently exercised as the ordinary operations of a municipal 
control require. Before expressing to you the sentiments 
which should be connected with the exhibition ofthese facts, allow 
me to ask your attention to the sacrifice to which Maine is sub- 
mitting while her formidable adversary is thus industriously for- 



i; 

lily ing I i i i 

anyothei poi tract not less than six mil- 

lions of acres, which 'Aiin i! in a Million and en 

half situate. I northeastward ol the Si. John and \ ih it> 

i ilk v dii ilili- for mil ami lnii'i r, so ill it ill 
river has been estimated to be worth - which is otrly 

equal to an average of $ I tOOOp • mile. The uk 

i • Iter by the crrcomeia t > . thai a 
claim i> made upon ii bj a foreign power and I > y th -lie 

eotertains lor the President's rei nof a tual for- 

h.'.ir>'iT : yettbai Power is in lb* mean time applying 
diction in ihe - ^ it ihe represent itions of its minis- 

ter created no pledge and no ob ustain their coi 

While it i -> u . 1 1: r .i I i line powxi should s> < !> to 

render the ProvrnceofN ■■■ Brunswick wealthy and powcrlul, 
bj the |irizt- it hopes t<> win, it might hove been expected that 
there should he do repugnance between its lde< lai it "ii-. 

The case »Ii h Brill be presented, must, a- inn perceive, nei 
inrily require ol Maine, i • eration ofthe duties ah< owt i to 

her citizens, nut left in the condition of neutral subjects without 
government, as has been supposed, but actuallj subjugated. 

i Una our lands to remain uncnltivated, and our public im- 
pt o\ t ni' ni- to be p> -: iioiifd through n State ni cessity, ii ■ 
rafice capable) of being endured, compared with that of seeing 
dominion usurped over those wooowi ince, and to whom 

protein ni i- tine. It I ne of the Government, 

and of a great portion "i ti:>- peopli ofthe I niti S . at 
limes win G Brita i tiling claim : 

luntry, a bul not l< than the 

• at, td .t an injur] to ■ nflti ted a wound upon 

the bod] j" litic, and that an evil inflicted upon a pert, demanded 
the making a common cause for its remedy. 

In such a sentiment, believed to be now as (oily u ever enter- 
tained, I find my apology for ilii< -wed appeal fofproti 

tintl the reduction of it- territory ami 
i itizena through interposition. 

\\ . og j • If of the present opportunity to off r the Presi- 
dent a further view of this subject, which I nmitied porposelj 
on form' r occasion-, n b flattering to be able lo bring in aid the 
analogy of the opinions understood by the nation to have 
uniformly entertained by our Mali smi i and jun-t- in [hi 
the M isi| ii. It being assumed that tin- protection so Pic i ted 
will lie yielded i and that the propertj demanded cannot be snr- 

t red in I ) or under snj mode of 

as superior fores may com| el submission to 



4^ 

territory, it is natural to advert to the value of the property at 
stake. That value is so enhanced as to place it beyond calcula- 
tion when we apply the doctrine applied to the navigation ol the 
Mississippi, that the ownership of the head waters ot' rivers gives 
the rignt of free navigation to their sources. The doctrine sub- 
ject to some modification of a political and fiscal character, has 
the same application under the laws of nature and nations, in ref- 
erence to our right of navigation through the St. John, as this na- 
tion always demanded for it in connection with the great ques- 
tion with Spain, which called it into view. Let me imreat you, 
then, to look at once to the exciting cause of the cupidity of Great 
Britain, and the anxiety of Maine as to this profligate claim. The 
materials for ship building on the disputed territory, may be cal- 
led inexhaustible, and the soil is so fertile, that the Matawascah 
settlement exports many thousand bushels of grain. The towns 
near the Bay of Fund v, both on the Scoodic and St. John, un- 
der the exclusive policy of Great Britain, derive immense annu- 
al profits from ship building, and they look with an unholy in- 
terest and intent on the extensive forests of Maine. If the mer- 
its of the case admitted more measured terms, I should use them. 
But believing that all posterity would reprobate the weakness of 
yielding what is once so rightfully ours, and so important, I use 
the freedom which the occasion demands. Beyond what I have 
urged, let me add, that there will be, if you shall defeat the claim 
upon our territory ; a facility of artificial water communication 
which, regarding its extent is unparalleled in the geography of this 
eountry. It will embrace all the waters of the St. John, Penob- 
scot, Kennebec, and St. Lawrence. 

If the General Government will employ an Agent of this State, 
it u ill, I am sure, be responsible for proving to him the correctness 
of all I have stated, to his entire satifaction, and in the most au- 
thentic forms. 

I cannot close without assuring you of my confirmed belief, 
that Maine will never assent to the result of an arbitration unfa- 
vorable toher interests in the great concern in reference to which 
my duty has compelled me to trouble you with my repeated com- 
munications. 



NO. 26. 

Letter from the Secretary of State of the United States, to the Gov- 
ernor of Maine. 

Washington, \4th Sept. 1827. 
Sib : I have received the Letter which your Excellency did 



18 

me tin 1 bonoi t'> it »n th* ; 'l" r, l instant, ami I have 

lottnu lime in transmiu i i 03 ol il 10 il P ii ol the 

United States, who will no doubt give t • » i i ihemosl respectful 
nml delibei il • • xnmination. In 1 1 • *- meantime 1 have also ti 
mitt' , | u extract from it to the Bi Hinisi •. tied bj 

ill- i xpression thai i * > ■ • 'II I"' - ivei 

part ofthe British Government, to enforce that mutual forbi 
ance from any new arts tending t" strengthen ibe claim ol 
ther party to the disputed territory, which it boa been understood 
in tin- c orres po n dence between Mr. \ aughau and myself, would 
■ 



NO, i7. 

•■ from tht Govern Ine, to tht Lieutenant Governor 

of.Vew Brunswick. 

P ': ' I, I8S7. 

Sin : It has hem represented to me, aa Governor of die State 
pf Maine, that one ofits .of the name of John Baker, 

while residing on its territory, lin- I ind i- detained 

in gaol at Frederieton. A eircom interi tin; to the 

I character oftbe Si iti ind C itry co ipels me to 
licit information which I do with the respect and amicable <l 
lition due authorities of a neighbori rnment. It i< hop- 

,-il tl I to communicate all ibe fan? in the 

case, ami tlr.it the resoh will lie to allay tli<- anxiety produced by 
the impression that the privileges "f in A ' itiaenand the 

jnri- I Maine has 

ii.it nlj '■ wish to be amicably connected with N -• B > n uick, 
but be» interests impel her to seek a friendly intercommunicatioa ; 
yetyou mos't bi iwarethath nor and just nd of her the 

utmost respect ind ion her part to the rights of ererj 

citizen. 

The attempt to extend the jurisdiction of New Brunswick over 
the disputed territory will i innteraction irom Maim 

I lit must be prodoeth nch evil that it k not deem- 

ed indelicate ordi ■ ' irresl of our 

■ ilircns mi what u rt "lour State will dl 



so 

NO. 28. 

.Mr. DaveW Aappointment. 
STATE Or MAINE. 

Secretary of State's Office, ) 
Portland, Nov. ft. 1827. ^ 

Gharlts Stuart Dan is, Esq. Portland. 
Sir: I am directed to inform yon. that you have this day been appointed 
by the Governor of this State, an agent, with authority to act in behalf of the 
State of Maine, in obtaining information, either informal, or by authenticated 
statements, as to all objectsrelafing to rights of property and jurisdiction be- 
tween the governments of the said State, and the Province of New Brunswick. 
I have the honor to be, with ereat respect, your most obedient servant, 
AMOS NICHOLS. Secretary of State. 



NO. 29. 

Letter from the Governor of the State of Maine to the Lieuten- 
ant Governor of New Brunswick. 

Portland, Nov. bth, 1827. 
Sir : I have the honor to solicit your friendly reception of 
Charles S. Daveis, Esquire, appointed to obtain information rel- 
ative to our border difficulties. It has been considered due to 
yourself to select, for this Agency, a gentleman of high charac- 
ter, and who in the most acceptable manner, may inquire into 
concerns calculated to produce a war between the United States 
and Great Britain, unless by the forbearance of injuries by New- 
Brunswick and Maine, it may be prevented. 

In whatever point of view you may regard this subject, I 
have full confidence that you will permit Mr. Daveis, if only in 
the capacity of a stranger and a gentleman, to pass with your 
countenance through the territory over which you preside, to 
the different portions of country he may wish to visit, for the 
purpose of ascertaining the facts relative to complaints of vio- 
lence and injustice committed on the citizens of Maine. 

This measure has been adopted, not to interrupt, but to cher- 
ish, the most respectful sentiments, and amicable disposition, be- 
tween all those who may be concerned. 

Mr. Daveis' authority does not specially designate his object; 
but you are requested to consider him as fully empowered to 
demand the release of John Baker, a citizen of Maine, said to 
be confined in the Gaol at Fredericton, and that the persons, 
who arrested him and conveyed him there, may be delivered up 
to be tried by the laws of this State, and dealt with as justice 
may require. 



.M 

NO. :<0. 

/. i(heS -.folks 

ft " 

Sir: 1 I. ' ''' M ; "" PrWtilf, 

wbo will haw the honor i livei ' 

eellency, un.l who i- i m ployed for th il poi , ity-four manu- 

script volumes of Booki iccording I npnnyinglist, on the 

subject of the No th ind N "dary line* of the I ni- 

1 :u tin- office for tl - onibrtna- 

bly wuii -ii in ir ' v ' ellency- 

Prom (i,. ii i- more ilinn probable thai 

thai emfa "'"• discussion 

.in.l argument, than ni in the contemplation ufyoui excellency, or 
than "i- S ' : "" ''"'"- 

plume, „,-.(, <■ . I ws, and tn gu "".I inj de- 

ficiency, I gave directions to bat i trans ripi F every thing 

which unirlii hj ng upon the 

■ion, having th iring upon the 8 irith the limita- 

tion staled in my previous correspon ■! as the selection 

imitted i" ptb< rs, »ii" maj not h vn had a very 
accurate vie* oftrn • entrusted to them, it 

timprobohle that il much which maybe found 

superfluous. 

I -• ml .il-". f. >n ^ ■■ spared «uli the 

I under i 1 a liich Mr. IV 

will also lm\e the honor I :r Excelli 



WO. 31. 

I.rlter from th G '' ~ tm 

- 

r i \ i- 

>m | | i caused to be transmitted 

with tin - i naturallj • itimonial 

of record for the wish< - ofth iS \ . which Ii u 

ich trouble, cannol 
of r. -;•• ct, and lo i ' i ibiliiy, in acknoa I- 

• 
in obtaining it. 
1 I. ... 

10th instai i >le tlmi the ob- 

I to n 

foreign unpin M una, 

with not 

I ill la li'-r. thr ap- 



52 

pea] Mill be made to the people of iliis country and' to posterity. It 
has not seemed arrogant or presumptuoas to have expected a re- 
cognition of her rights, and to have asked that if she is to be made a 
sacrifice, she might not be devoted without some consideration on 
her part of the terms. 

It is not probable that your various important engagements can 
have allowed to mv former communications more than the cursory 
glance, which enables the officer in most cases to dispatch business, 
especially in those cases in regard to which he has marked out his 
course ; but, to save repetition, I must ask your indulgence to refer 
to those communications as containing statements and principles 
near to the hearts and interests of this community. When you 
cautioned us against suggestions of compromise and acts of pre- 
caution, it was not believed that it was that you might the more 
easily throw us within the power of an umpire, but that you intend- 
ed L o intimate that the powerful arm of the federal government was 
holding its ample shield before us. At last we learn that our strength, 
security and wealth are to be subjected to the mercy of a foreign in- 
dividual, who, it has been said by your minister, " rarely decides 
upon strict principles of lav.," and " has always a bias to try, if 
possible, to split the difference." I cannot but yield to the impulse 
of saying most respectfully that Maine has not been treated as she 
has endeavored to deserve. 

The painful duty of laying before you the testimony to prove the 
aggressions committed upon citizens of this State, by inhabitants of 
New Brunswick, was seasonably discharged. It is feared that the 
violence committed, has been but the commencement of a system. 
The President will surely bestow his attention upon the case of 
John Baker, who is stated to have been arrested on land conveyed 
to him in fee simple, in the year 1825, by the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts and the State of Maine. The conveyance was vir- 
tually a certificate of citizenship and a pledge for protection. It 
was a[so an act of State policy, a deliberate political measure, and 
the" Old Commonwealth" and this Republic may well call upon 
the President and Secretary of State to be their protectors. All 
those who have contended against the impressment of the sailor ill 
our ships, will resent the arrest of the yeoman on the frontier. Con- 
necting this injury with others, which have been suffered and 
threatened, it has been deemed proper to appoint an Agent of the 
State, to inquire in a friendly and respectful manner, into the facts, 
whose report will enable me to answer fully and correctly the ques- 
tions you have proposed. It is with great deference, submitted that 
every invest illation of this subject, will satisfy the federal govern- 
ment that the representations 1 have had the honor to present, 
might have been worthy a serious consideration, which I doubt not 
they have received, although possibly too hue. The communica- 
tions to the Lieut. Governor of New Brunswick, and other docu. 
,ment> «ill accompany thi^ letter. 



PROCLAMATION. 

si \ I I. ill M MM 

I \ I'll i..iill.\ii|i ( 01 MUM 

A rnOCr-AMATION. 

w State, 'li ii ■ 

linn from it, by a F P i >'i the P 

N >: . unit Tli.it is-.-.. Imvc Iikmi riimiiiilli-il hj inl 

M mi'- and the rights ••! 
thoac she i- bound to proti 

I: io known, that, relying on thi govcrnm I°the1 

ion, the pi II be applii i and securit) . 

I uuli it, and those inti t 
iy syinpatl um of the violation of our territory and imnm- 

i Mi.it ili>- preparatioi 
,1 hi .uir laud marks, and guardi • id in- 

rsiiin \ ocrican i itizens tnayjnot 1»- embarrassed In anj unau 

.li.ir, I NO( M I.IM I'l.N 

r.. ■:. G n mor. 

\ Secretary of & 

' ncil Chamber, j 

Portland, NoremlM : 



NO. :{:*. 

I.cttn from the Secretary of State of (fit I'tr -. to 

the (ioreruor of Maine. 

WcMmgtan, .:- Hi p. 1827. 

I bare i" acknowledge tin- receipt of ili«- Letter which jrowr 
ilency <lnl me the honor to address to me on tin- liitd instant, 
with it* in tiiiii|i:iii\ in, -Hi-., all of which" have been laid before the 
r idem. He sees «nli".ri ■ the expression of the senti- 

m, in ofyoor Excel lency thai " M line has not b • I as >li>- 

baa end* irored to deserve." Without engaging, at this iimr, in a 
discussion of the whole subject of ">ir dispute with (rreal Britain 
\ item boundary of the Unit - . in which the 

Btat< I pit interested, which would be altogether 

unprofitable, I un wan I shall obtain your Excellency's indulgi uce 
lor one or two general obw na which seem called tot bj the 

above sesttinMnt. 

Bj the Treaty ■ ■! Ghent, on the contingenci which unbnppili 
I, of \ m-'i-i on ■ i c r - i r • c I" tweeu > nd Atnei ic in 

Commissioners in fixing thai boundary, the) wan 
n.-lv i,i report to tin ii Goi ■ nu, and the difference thus lefl un- 
it il'ii Arbitral! r. ^ qui Ex- 
■ r, mi 'Ii. . |, I,,-,- which In- pasted be- 

tween ysm tad this Department, has pi his reference, 



54 

and your objections to it liave received the most respectful consid- 
eration. The fulfilment of solemn obligations imposed upon the 
United Stales by the faith of treaties ; and the duty with which the 
President is charged by the constitution of taking care that the laws 
(of which our treaties with foreign powers form part) be faithfully 
executed, did not appear to leave him at liberty to decline the stip- 
ulated reference. If any other practical mode of settling the differ- 
ences had occurred, or been suggested by your Excellency, to the 
President, it would have received friendly and deliberate consider- 
ation. 

It is certainly most desirable that Nations should arrange all dif- 
ferences between them, by direct negotiation, rather than through 
the friendly agency of third powers. This has been attempted and 
has failed. The Government of the United States is fully convinc- 
ed that the right to the territory in dispute is with us and 
not with Great Britain. The convictions of Maine are not strong- 
er, in respect to the validity of our title, than those which are enter- 
tained by the President. But Great Britain professes to believe the 
contrary. The parties cannot come to the same conclusion. In 
this state of things what ought to done ? National disputes can be 
settled only amicably or by an "appeal to the sword. All will agree 
that before resorting to jthej'Iatter dreadful alternative, every friend- 
ly and peaceful mCasdfS^stWwid be tried and have failed. It is a 
happy expedient, whereNations cannot themselves adjust their dif- 
ferences, to avail themselves of the umpirage of a friendly and im- 
partial power. It multrpli'ss the chances of avoiding the greatest of 
human calamities. It is t.jne that it is a mode not free from all ob- 
jection, and Mr. Gallatin has adverted to one, in the extract, which 
you give from one of his dispatches. But objectionable as it may 
be, it is better and nut more uncertain than the events of war. Your 
Excellency seems to think that the clearness of our right should 
prevent the submission of the controversy to an Arbitrator. But the 
other party professes to be^qually convinced of the indisputable na- 
ture of btefelaim - y .attuviC-thal-consideration were to operate on the 
one side, it would 'equally influence the other. The consequence 
will be at once perceived;. .Besides, the clearness of our title will at- 
tend it before the Arbitrator,"' and, if we are not deceived in it, his 
favorable decision is inevitable. 

The President regrets, therefore, that in conducting the negotia- 
tion with Great Britain, he could not conform to the views of your 
Excellency, by refusing to carry into effect a treaty, to the execution 
of which the good faith of the Nation stood pledged, and which was 
moreover enjoined by the express terms of the Constitution. 

But, if he could have brought himself to disregard this double ob- 
ligation uuder which he is placed, how could the interests of Maine 
have been advanced ? She te not in possession of the disputed ter- 
ritory, or at most but of a small part. Both parties stand pledged 
to each other to practice forbearance, and to^abstaiu from further 
acts of sovereignty on thy unoccupied waste, until the question of 



.1.1 



fight is aett led. Ii thai que* iscltlcdby « 1 1 • • pa 

theinsi ri il mm imt In- xetllcil In arbitration, how is it to bt 

ii rriiim •! ! The remaining alternative hns been suggested. Wheth- 
it toe time has arrived for the use of thai dnc» not belong to the 
lent, but • brunch of the fiovernmcnt to decide, 

I . til 1 • Imt hope tl.it \"iir I. . upi ti :i rcni ^ bftbe 

whole subject, in a apfrit of candor, will be disposed* ti think, 'iiit 
tive of the United S • nring with the 

utmost zenl, in regard to our Northeastern boundary, to promote 
1 H ml of tin- State of Maine ; 

nn. I tint this respectabl I neither with neg- 

lect irw injusti 



.\o. :tf. 

/ < \ Brunsiciek, to M. Governor 

Fred /.' . I sJi \oeember, i 

I u ExceUi i 

• ) ill the liriniii- 

Irlirr. 

It ' iiiiii; 

3 Oor: I i now 

the G rern- 
i Ghent : bat it 

I .hi,", unit 

i i, to 'in 

I or mi'lct 

ini'iit nf tli. • United 

. rlril 

nn.i'i ■■■! ■ \jil.iii,itii'ii 

| 

A I ' i I 

HI Mllil till 

ii wliii I, fk • . ,-ni.ni-iit, 

1 

1 ii liberty . t" use 

anil 

!'■ 'Tltil- 



.3(i 

hi tin Svprt .;!" Vuiirt. Erchtqai, Side. 

Yor.iv. xo> wit, Be it ivnt that Thomas Wetmore, Enquire, At- 
torney General of our "Sovereign Lord the King, for this, his Majesty's 
Province of New-BrdfcswicKj wbo prosecutes for our said Lord the King, 
i imes in his own proper pers mi iutolhe Court ofour said Lord the King, 
. c the Justices of our said Lord the Ki, ! ricton, on the seven- 

te nth day of September, in the eighth year of the Reign ofour Sovereign 
Lord the now King, and for our said Lord the King gives the Court here to 
rstand and Be informed. — That Whereas a certain Tract or Parcel of 
Land situate in the Parish of Kent, in the County of York, in the said Prov- 
ince, and lying on both sides of the River Saint John, between the mouth of 
the Madawaska River and the River Saint Francis, and containing in the 
whole, fifty thousand Acres in die hands and possession ofour said Lord 
the King, on the first day of February, im the first year of his Reign, and 
before and continually after, was and of Right ought to be, and yet ought to be, 
id the right of his Imperial Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and 
Ireland, and as part of the Dominions-of our said Lord the King in this Prov- 
iure: and for so long a time as there is no remembrance of any man to the 
contrary, has been in the possession of the said Lord the King, and his 
Predecessors, the Kings and Queens of Great Britain and Ireland, and a 
part of the Dominions of the said Crown. — Nevertheless, one John Baker, 
of the Parish aforesaid, in the County aforesaid, Farmer, the Laws 
of the said Lord the King in no wise regarding, but intending the 
disherision of the said Lord the Kins, in the Premises, on the first day of 
Kebruary in the second year of the Reign of our said present Sovereign 
Lord the King, and on divers days and times, before and since, with force 
and arms, and without any lawful authority in and upon the possession of 
the said Lord the King, of a part of His said Lands, to wit, one hundred 
acres thereof, lying on the westerly side of the Land-Turtle, or Mar- 
cuiupticook River, a branch of the said River Saint John, at the Parish 
aforesaid, in the <' uriti aforesaid, intruded and entered and erected and 
b'uih thereon a certain? House and other Edifices, and cut and felled divers, 
to wit. five hundred timber and other trees thereon standing and growing, 
ol the value together of one hundred pounds, and look and carried away the 
Timber a id Wood arising from the said Trees.and f his own will clis' 
thereof, and the issue- it* of the saim Lunds accruing, received, 

and had. and-yet doth re; , and still holds and keeps 

possession of the Lav . ie said Trespass aforesaid hitherto and yet 

continuing to the great annoyance • f our said Lord the King, in contempt of 
our said Lord the King — and contrary to the Laws, and against the Peace 
ofour said Lord the 8 

Wherepon the said Attorney General ofour said Lord the King, for the 
said Lord the Kin die advice of tile Court here in the premises, 

and that the aforesaid John Baker come hereto answer the said Lord 
(he King in the premises. (Signed) T. WETMORE, Attorney Gen I. 

Indorsed. J. M.BLISS : 

r.vamined by i rtified to be a true copy, 

T. R. WETMORE, Clerk l<> the Attorney General 

iv, 1 1, ffovemh -c 



STATE OF. MAINE. 
tfOVSS. Of REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARYS 

Ordered, Tlmt a number no - ■< linf twin. I copies of the fofegoini 

Die unmoor to be .Im the Rep 

ilhcfutu posi viii,, Legists tAMES JVORTNG CHILD CI 



Extract from ft" Journal. 
1 IMES L. i IIILI' 



9 

La S" w6 



B« 



fc** 













s 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



011 895 712 A ^ 



